JUSTICE

Action for Employment

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what contracts his Department has with A4e; and what the (a) purpose and (b) value is of each such contract.

Kenneth Clarke: The Ministry of Justice has no current contracts with A4e. However other departments do have contracts with A4e that deliver services to offenders.

Business: Freedom of Information

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to extend the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to private companies.

Jonathan Djanogly: We do not currently propose to extend the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to private companies in general. It would be inappropriate for companies not in public ownership and who are primarily accountable to shareholders, to face the increased administrative burden required by the FOIA when Government are seeking to reduce regulatory burdens.
	However, we recognise there is a strong argument for increased transparency by all bodies in receipt of public funds, including companies providing public services under contract. The Government's “Open Data Consultation” sought views on the types of organisations to which an Open Data policy would apply. A summary of the responses has been published at:
	www.data.gov.uk
	The FOI Act is also subject to post-legislative scrutiny to see how it is working in practice. Further policy in this area will be developed in light of the evidence drawn from both sets of work.

Dangerous Driving: Death

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases of death through (a) careless and (b) dangerous driving were recorded (i) in total and (ii) involving illegal levels of alcohol in (A) Leeds North West constituency, (B) West Yorkshire police force area and (C) England in each of the last five years.

Crispin Blunt: The number of defendants proceeded against for, and convicted of, (a) causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, (b) causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs, and (c) causing death by dangerous driving in England and the West Yorkshire police force area, in each year between 2006 and 2010 (latest currently available), can be viewed in the table.
	Court proceedings data are not available at constituency level.
	Annual court proceedings data for 2011 are planned for publication in May 2012.
	
		
			 Defendants (1)  proceeded against at magis trates courts and found guilty (2)  at all courts of offences related to causing death by careless or dangerous driving in England and the West Yorkshire police force area in each year between 2006 and 2010 
			  2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 
			 Area/offence Proceeded against Guilty Proceeded against Guilty Proceeded against Guilty Proceeded against Guilty Proceeded against Guilty 
			 England           
			 Causing Death by careless or inconsiderate driving(3) n/a n/a n/a n/a — 2 172 80 277 228 
			 Causing Death by Careless Driving when under the influence of Drink or Drugs 57 62 36 62 26 44 26 31 30 35 
			 Causing Death by Dangerous Driving 249 209 256 221 247 208 236 212 183 148 
			            
			 West Yorkshire police force area           
			 Causing Death by careless or inconsiderate driving(3) n/a n/a n/a n/a — — 8 5 15 10 
		
	
	
		
			 Causing Death by Careless Driving when under the influence of Drink or Drugs 4 5 2 3 2 3 — — 2 3 
			 Causing Death by Dangerous Driving 14 13 14 9 10 13 13 11 11 6 
			 n/a = Not applicable. (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) The number of defendants found guilty in a particular year may exceed the number proceeded against as the proceedings in the magistrates court took place in an earlier year and the defendants were found guilty at the Crown court in the following year; or the defendants were found guilty of a different offence to that for which they were originally proceeded against. (3) In August 2008 section 2B of the Road Traffic Act 1988 was added by the Road Safety Act 2006. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services within the Ministry of Justice.

Departmental ICT

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on enterprise resource planning systems in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Kenneth Clarke: During 2010-11 the Ministry was supported by three enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for finance (including procurement, inventory and manufacturing), human resources (HR and learning management) and payroll services. Two systems (Aramis and Chrimson) were as a result of contracts between the MOJ and suppliers for the provision, support and maintenance of a system and a transactional processing service from the supplier covering MOJ HQ and HMCTS. The third system (Phoenix) was a contract for the provision, support and maintenance of an ERP covering NOMS which was used by an internal shared services department. There are three systems because the departments and agencies which combined to create the MOJ had their own systems originally.
	The spend during the year 2010-11 was:
	
		
			 System 2010-11  s pend (£ million) 
			 Aramis 2.38 
			 Chrimson 3.64 
			 Phoenix (1)7.98 
			 (1) Excluding project development costs relating to new functionality development to meet new business needs. 
		
	
	As part of the Transforming Justice initiative we are currently replacing the three systems through a Shared Services programme with a new single ERP platform. This initiative was approved by the Cabinet Office ERG in 2010-11 and aligns to the Cabinet Office Shared Services Strategy for Government which has within it the concept of a Justice Sector Shared Services solution building on the investment we are making through our Transforming Justice initiative.
	We are currently exploring the opportunity for this new platform to be used by the Home Office and a number of our own Arms Length bodies. The new solution is due to go live in 2013-14 and has a NPV return over 10 years of £102 million. The new solution will deliver significant savings of £40 million per annum through increased efficiency, reduced systems maintenance and support and improved management information. These benefits are quoted excluding any sharing of our platform by other departments and will increase should this occur.

Departmental Legal Opinion

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on external legal services in the last year.

Jonathan Djanogly: External legal spend has been understood to relate to the Departments legal spend for advice and representation on behalf of the Department. This consists of spend with Parliamentary Counsel, Treasury Solicitors (TSol), external solicitors firms and Counsel. It does not include spend on the provision of legal advice and support to third parties such as for legal aid or criminal litigation including enforcement and investigation activities.
	Information that is currently available shows that for the period January to September 2011 the Department's total external legal spend as defined above was £17,034,601. Data for the period October to December will be available for collation at the beginning of March.
	This information is collated as part of the MOJ's Business Plan quarterly data summaries (QDS). The report is available at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/transparency-data/quarterly-data-summaries.htm
	When seeking legal advice from external counsel the Ministry of Justice use Panel Counsel in accordance with Attorney-General Guidance.
	External legal firms are engaged from the list of accredited suppliers under Legal Services Framework Agreements available on the Buying Solutions website for the Government Procurement Services:
	www.buyingsolutions.gov.uk

Departmental Pay

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his Department's policy is on payment to private companies in lieu of salary and how many (a) payroll staff and (b) non-payroll staff, including consultants and contractors of (i) his Department and (ii) its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies are paid by means of payments to a limited company in lieu of salary; what the amount paid into private companies is since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Kenneth Clarke: The policy of the Ministry of Justice is to pay all payroll staff via PAYE.
	The Ministry of Justice employs non-payroll staff, consultants and contractors through recruitment agencies rather than private companies and only when there is an operational necessity to do so. Recruitment agencies supply contractors, interims and agency staff for a fee, which includes the cost of the sourced labour and an element for their administration. Details on the methods of payment used by recruitment agencies to individuals, including whether it is through PAYE, is a matter for those companies. When engaging these contracts, the Ministry of Justice ensures that it receives value for money and complies with procurement legislation, HM Treasury's rules and Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Group requirements.
	The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), has announced an urgent review of the tax arrangements of senior public sector appointments, to report by the end of March 2012. Ministers are paid through the departmental payroll.
	Information on the number of non payroll staff engaged through recruitment agencies by the Ministry of Justice and its executive agencies and non-departmental bodies since May 2010 is not centrally available.
	In respect of the amount that the Ministry of Justice has paid to recruitment agencies since May 2010, I refer the hon. Member to my answer to his parliamentary question number 89643 on 17 January 2012, Official Report, column 696W.

Departmental Senior Civil Servants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many senior civil servants left his Department and its public bodies in each month since May 2010; what their names are; what the rate of turnover of senior civil servants in his Department was during this period; and if he will make a statement.

Kenneth Clarke: The number of senior civil servants that left the Ministry of Justice and its public bodies in each month since May 2010 and rate of turnover of senior civil servants in the Ministry of Justice during this period, is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Number Turnover rate (Percentage) 
			 May 2010 1 16.2 
			 June 2010 3 15.8 
			 July 2010 3 15.8 
			 August 2010 2 15.3 
			 September 2010 3 15.1 
		
	
	
		
			 October 2010 4 15.3 
			 November 2010 3 15.8 
			 December 2010 3 17.2 
			 January 2011 1 14.5 
			 February 2011 1 14.3 
			 March 2011 7 12.5 
			 April 2011 5 13.7 
			 May 2011 7 16.6 
			 June 2011 6 16.6 
			 July 2011 13 32.7 
			 August 2011 6 27.0 
			 September 2011 4 26.0 
			 October 2011 8 27.6 
			 November 2011 6 27.2 
			 December 2011 4 30.1 
		
	
	Under the Data Protection Principles in the Data Protection Act 1998, it is not possible to disclose the names of each individual staff member. It would breach the fair processing principle of that Act.

Family Law: Legal Aid Scheme

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice by what percentage the budget for private and public family law legal aid will be reduced in 2014-15 compared to 2009-10 if the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill is enacted in its current form.

Jonathan Djanogly: There is no separate budget for private and public family law legal aid; funding forms part of the overall legal aid provision. Based on a counterfactual assessment using 2009-10 as a baseline and the figures published in the impact assessment, spending would reduce by 29% in steady state. Steady state figures are employed here for consistency purposes, as all figures in the impact assessment are presented on this basis.

Freedom of Information

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to apply the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to (a) navigation authorities and (b) the conservators of the River Cam.

Jonathan Djanogly: A number of navigation authorities, including British Waterways, the Broads Authority and the Environment Agency are already covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). The Government intend that the Canal and River Trust should be covered by the FOIA in respect of functions inherited from British Waterways. We will also, within two years, launch a procedure, under section 5 of the FOIA, to consider extending the provisions of the Act to other navigation authorities including the Conservators of the River Cam.

Judiciary: Complaints

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many judges have been (a) investigated and (b) disciplined by the Office for Judicial Complaints in each year since 2004; and what disciplinary steps were taken in each such case.

Kenneth Clarke: The Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC) was established in April 2006 under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.
	The following table details the number of complaints received and investigated, along with the disciplinary sanctions imposed.
	These figures include complaints about judges, coroners, tribunal judges and magistrates, where those complaints have been referred to the OJC by a Tribunal President or Local Advisory Committee.
	
		
			  Complaints received Number of disciplinary sanctions Disciplinary action taken 
			 2006-07 1,674 32 A/W/G(1)—3 
			    Reprimand—13 
			    Removed from office—16 
			     
			 2007-08 1,437 49 A/W/G(1)—9 
			    Reprimand—19 
			    Removed from office—21 
			     
			 2008-09 1,339 84 A/W/G(1)—18 
			    Reprimand—22 
			    Suspended—1 
			    Resigned—19 
			    Removed from office—24 
			     
			 2009-10 1,571 87 A/W/G(1)—29 
			    Reprimand—11 
			    Suspended—1 
			    Resigned—18 
			    Removed from office—28 
			     
			 2010-11 1,638 106 A/W/G(1)—24 
			    Reprimand—28 
			    Resigned—25 
			    Removed from office—29 
			 (1) Advice-Warning-Guidance

Judiciary: Complaints

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases have been investigated by the judicial appointments and conduct ombudsman in each of the last three years.

Kenneth Clarke: In each of the last three years, the judicial appointments and conduct ombudsman has investigated the following number of cases:
	2011-12 (current year to date): 68
	2010-11: 67
	2009-10: 70
	2008-09: 103.
	Further information and a breakdown of cases can be found in the ombudsman's annual reports.

Legal Aid Scheme

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice by what percentage the criminal legal aid budget will be reduced in 2014-15 compared to 2009-10 if the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill is enacted in its current form.

Jonathan Djanogly: There is no separate budget for criminal legal aid; funding forms part of the overall legal aid provision. Based on a counterfactual assessment using 2009-10 as a baseline and the figures published in the impact assessment, spending would reduce by 8% in steady state. Steady state figures are employed here for consistency purposes, as all figures in the impact assessment are presented on this basis.

Legal Aid Scheme

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice by what percentage the budget for social welfare legal aid will be reduced in 2014-15 compared to 2009-10 if the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill is enacted in its current form.

Jonathan Djanogly: There is no separate budget for social welfare legal aid; funding forms part of the overall legal aid provision. Based on a counterfactual assessment using 2009-0 as a baseline and the figures published in the impact assessment, spending would reduce by approximately 53% in steady state. Steady state figures are employed here for consistency purposes, as all figures in the impact assessment are presented on this basis.

Legal Aid Scheme

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many claims brought by employees for (a) negligence and (b) breach of statutory duty were made against his Department in each of the last 10 years; and how much was paid in (i) damages, (ii) defence legal costs and (iii) claimant legal costs in each year.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) was created in June 2007 when some functions of the Home Office (probation, prisons and prevention of reoffending) were combined with those of the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA); the Department only holds records for that period.
	Individual business units do not record case types and costs in a way that would allow us to provide this information. Files held by the Department and/or the Treasury Solicitor would need to be searched manually to obtain the information which would incur a disproportionate cost.

Olympic Games 2012

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to use his power under section 5 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to designate London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games as an organisation that appears to exercise functions of a public nature.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Government do not plan to extend the Freedom of Information Act to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Limited (LOCOG), a private company limited by guarantee.
	The Government remain committed to full transparency and this includes the right of the National Audit Office to investigate the spending of all public money in relation to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is already subject to the Freedom of Information Act, including in relation to information it holds about LOCOG. The DCMS also publish information on the funding it provides to LOCOG in quarterly economic reports.

Prison Sentences

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  for what offences prisoners were serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP) (a) who have been released and (b) who are still in custody sentenced under an IPP, in the period since the introduction of that sentence;
	(2)  for what offences prisoners were serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection, broken down by length of tariff rounded to the nearest year, in the period since the introduction of that sentence;
	(3)  for what offences prisoners were serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection, broken down by region in which they were resident when arrested, in the period since the introduction of that sentence.

Crispin Blunt: Table 1 shows the number of prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP), who were released from custody by the independent Parole Board in 2010 and January to September 2011, broken down by offence. Discharge data for the full year 2011 is not yet available; data for 2009 and earlier years is not held in this form, so a breakdown by offence cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.
	As at 31 December 2011 there were 6,162 offenders in prison serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP). Table 2 shows a breakdown of these prisoners by offence and tariff length.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	Information is not held centrally on the region in which an offender was resident at the time of their arrest, so the requested table cannot be provided.
	
		
			 Table 1: Offenders released from prison having served an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP), by offence 1 January 2010 to 30 September 2011, England and Wales 
			 Offence Number 
			 Other homicide and attempted homicide 14 
			 Manslaughter 10 
			 Arson 18 
			 Other violence against the person 121 
			 Rape 7 
			 Other sexual offences 23 
			 Robbery 81 
			 Other offences 18 
			 Total 292 
			 Data Sources and Quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Prison population for indeterminate sentences for public protection ( I PPs), by tariff length and offence, 31 December 2011 England and Wales 
			 Tariff length Manslaughter Other h omicide and attempted homicide Other violence against the person Rape Other s exual offences Robbery Arson Other  o ffences Total 
			 Less than or equal to 1 year 4 16 14 4 68 32 19 32 189 
			 Greater than 1 year to less than or equal to 2 years 20 66 298 33 240 313 127 127 1,224 
			 Greater than 2 years to less than or equal to 3 years 34 37 568 126 194 427 80 130 1,596 
			 Greater than 3 years to less than or equal to 4 years 32 31 442 205 106 300 32 71 1,219 
		
	
	
		
			 Greater than 4 years to less than or equal to 5 years 21 31 221 183 49 155 14 66 740 
			 Greater than 5 years to less than or equal to 6 years 16 32 137 138 44 72 1 23 463 
			 Greater than 6 years to less than or equal to 7 years 8 22 50 107 15 36 1 14 253 
			 Greater than 7 years to less than or equal to 8 years 7 25 27 73 14 13 1 10 170 
			 Greater than 8 years to less than or equal to 9 years 2 10 12 34 5 8 1 4 76 
			 Greater than 9 years to less than or equal to 10 years 0 17 7 17 4 1 0 1 47 
			 Greater than 10 years to less than or equal to 11 years 1 9 3 3 0 4 0 1 21 
			 Greater than 11 years to less than or equal to 12 years 1 12 2 2 1 0 0 0 18 
			 Greater than 12 years to less than or equal to 13 years 0 6 2 2 0 0 0 0 10 
			 Greater than 13 years to less than or equal to 14 years 0 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 7 
			 Greater than 14 years to less than or equal to 15 years 0 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 
			 Greater than 15 years 1 3 1 1 1 3 0 2 12 
			 Tariff not available 2 4 32 18 16 25 5 7 109 
			 Total 149 331 1,820 946 757 1,390 281 488 6,162 
			 Data Sources and Quality: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prison Sentences

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what average period in excess of their tariff has been served by prisoners given an indeterminate sentence for public protection and subsequently released from custody, in the period since the introduction of that sentence;
	(2)  what the average period served by prisoners given an indeterminate sentence for public protection and subsequently released from custody has been, in the period since the introduction of that sentence.

Crispin Blunt: Between 1 January 2010 and 30 September 2011 a total of 292 offenders serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection were released from custody by the independent Parole Board. On average, these offenders had served 26 months in excess of their tariff.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prison Sentences

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection have served more than (a) six months, (b) one year, (c) two years, (d) three years and (e) four or more years beyond their tariff.

Crispin Blunt: As at 31 December 2011 a total of 3,489 prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection (IPP) had passed their tariff expiry date. The following table shows a breakdown of these prisoners by length of time beyond tariff.
	
		
			  Number 
			 Total IPPs beyond tariff expiry date 3,489 
			 Of which:  
			 More than 6 months to less than or equal to 1 year beyond tariff 435 
			 More than 1 year to less than or equal to 2 years beyond tariff 903 
			 More than 2 year to less than or equal to 3 years beyond tariff 837 
		
	
	
		
			 More than 3 year to less than or equal to 4 years beyond tariff 616 
			 More than 4 years beyond tariff 311 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Prisoners: Suicide

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of the prisoners who committed suicide in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011 had been in prison for less than one (i) week and (ii) month.

Crispin Blunt: The National Offender Management Service records numbers of self-inflicted deaths. The definition of self-inflicted death is broader than the legal definition of suicide and includes all deaths where it appears that a prisoner has acted specifically to take their own life. This inclusive approach is used, in part because inquest verdicts are often not available for some years after a death.
	The numbers of self-inflicted deaths in prison custody by time in prison custody are published in the annual Safety in Custody Statistics bulletin. These can be found in table 7 of the statistical tables on deaths which are available from the Ministry of Justice website:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/prisons-and-probation/safety-in-custody.htm
	The latest published figures are for 2010. The Safety in Custody Annual statistical bulletin 2011 is due to be published on 26 July 2012.
	
		
			 Table 1: Cumulative number of self-inflicted deaths by time in prison custody 
			  2009 2010 
			 First week 12 10 
			 First month 18 15 
			 Note: Numbers in first week include any self-inflicted death that occurred on the day of arrival or the first full seven days in prison custody. Similarly, numbers in first month include any on the day of arrival or first full 30 days in custody. Annual numbers may change slightly from time to time as inquest verdicts and other information becomes available.

Prisoners: Suicide

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy that the July 2012 safer custody bulletin should include the (a) date of first reception into custody and (b) sentence length, where the prisoner had been sentenced, for each prisoner who committed suicide in custody in England and Wales in 2011.

Crispin Blunt: The Safety in Custody bulletin is an official statistics publication and as such the content is overseen by the Ministry of Justice chief statistician. On 23 February we published our annual consultation on the Ministry of Justice and its arm’s length bodies’ statistical work-plan. Within this are our plans to review the Safety in Custody annual statistics bulletin, looking at the range of tables we publish and the frequency of publication. The right hon. Member’s request will be taken into account in that review.

Proceeds of Crime

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 20 February 2012, Official Report, column 614W, on Manoucehr Bahmanzadeh, 
	(1)  whether his Department is having discussions on (a) the return of monies from the state of Jersey, (b) the Asset Recovery Incentive Scheme and (c) the use of monies held in Jersey;
	(2)  who will receive the interest accruing from the £950,730 held by Jersey.

James Brokenshire: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Home Department.
	The Home Office is in discussion with the Jersey authorities about the seized funds.

Repossession Orders

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many homes were repossessed in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) the London Borough of Bexley in each of the last five years.

Jonathan Djanogly: The table shows the numbers of claims leading to orders being made for the repossession of property by mortgage lenders and landlords in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency and (b) the London borough of Bexley in each of the last five years. The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the total numbers of repossessions of property (including where keys are handed back voluntarily).
	These figures represent the numbers of claims leading to orders being made. This is more accurate than the number of orders, removing the double-counting of instances where a single claim leads to more than one order. It is also a more meaningful measure of the number of homeowners who are subject to court repossession actions.
	These figures do not indicate how many properties have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order, such as where borrowers hand the keys back to the lender. Also, not all possession orders result in repossession. Many orders are suspended and if the borrower or tenant complies with the repayment arrangements set out in the suspended order the property will not be repossessed.
	Claims leading to orders figures for all regions and local authority areas in England and Wales in 2011 were recently published on 9 February 2012.
	This statistical bulletin is available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/civil-justice/mortgage-possession.htm
	Claims leading to orders figures for all parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales will be placed on the website by 8 March.
	
		
			 Number of mortgage (1)  and landlord (2,3)  possession claims leading to orders made (4,5,6)  for properties in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency (7,8) , and the London borough of Bexley (7) , 2007-11 
			  Mortgage possession Landlord Possession 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency 150 165 135 80 (9)105 125 125 120 175 (9)215 
			 Bexley 490 500 380 255 (9)265 380 435 400 410 (9)580 
			 (1) Includes all types of mortgage lenders. (2) Includes all types of landlord whether social or private. (3) Landlord actions include those made under both standard and accelerated procedures. Landlord actions via the accelerated procedure enables the orders to be made solely on the basis of written evidence for shorthold tenancies, when the fixed period of tenancy has come to an end. (4) The number of claims that lead to an order includes all claims in which the first order, whether outright or suspended, is made during the period. (5) The court, following a judicial decision, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. (6) Includes outright and suspended orders, the latter being where the court grants the claimant possession but suspends the operation of the order. Provided the defendant complies with the terms of suspension, which usually require the defendant to pay the current mortgage or rent instalments plus some of the accrued arrears, the possession order cannot be enforced. (7) All figures are rounded to the nearest 5. (8) Data up until the first quarter of 2010 (January to March) will reflect Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency boundaries as fixed at the 2005 general election and for the rest of 2010 and 2011 the re-fixed boundaries as of May 2010. (9) All period figures are based on provisional data. Source: Ministry of Justice

Repossession Orders

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many homes were repossessed in (a) Pendle constituency, (b) east Lancashire and (c) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Jonathan Djanogly: The following table shows the numbers of claims leading to orders being made for the repossession of property by mortgage lenders and landlords in (a) Pendle constituency (b) the local authorities in the east of Lancashire and (c) Lancashire in each of the last five years. The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on the total numbers of repossessions of property (including where keys are handed back voluntarily).
	These figures represent the numbers of claims leading to orders being made. This is more accurate than the number of orders, removing the double-counting of instances where a single claim leads to more than one order. It is also a more meaningful measure of the number of homeowners who are subject to court repossession actions.
	These figures do not indicate how many properties have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order, such as where borrowers hand the keys back to the lender. Also, not all possession orders result in repossession. Many orders are suspended and if the borrower or tenant complies with the repayment arrangements set out in the suspended order the property will not be repossessed.
	Claims leading to orders figures for all regions and local authority areas in England and Wales in 2011 were recently published on 9 February 2012.
	This statistical bulletin is available from the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/civil-justice/mortgage-possession.htm
	Claims leading to orders figures for all parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales will be placed on the above website by 8 March.
	
		
			 Number of mortgage (1)  and landlord (2, ) (3)  possession claims leading to orders made (4,) () (5,) () (6)  for properties in Pendle constituency (7,) () (8) , the local authorities in east Lancashire (7)  and Lancashire; 2007-11 
			  Mortgage possession Landlord possession 
			  2007 2006 2009 2010 2011 (9) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 (9) 
			 Pendle constituency 155 230 180 155 140 50 55 60 60 60 
			 Blackburn with Darwen UA 320 440 250 230 220 270 270 245 235 235 
			 Burnley 200 275 235 150 175 140 150 110 115 80 
			 Hyndburn 180 260 165 130 160 145 150 125 115 105 
			 Pendle 155 230 180 155 140 50 55 60 60 60 
			 Ribble Valley 60 85 50 45 45 25 40 15 20 25 
			 Rossendale 145 235 140 110 130 140 125 85 90 90 
			 Lancashire 2,170 2,855 1,850 1,460 1,615 770 790 640 635 595 
			 (1) Includes all types of mortgage lenders. (2) Includes all types of landlord whether social or private. (3 )Landlord actions include those made under both standard and accelerated procedures. Landlord actions via the accelerated procedure enable the orders to be made solely on the basis of written evidence for shorthold tenancies, when the fixed period of tenancy has come to an end. (4) The number of claims that lead to an order includes all claims in which the first order, whether outright or suspended, is made during the period. (5) The court, following a judicial decision, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction. (6) Includes outright and suspended orders, the latter being where the court grants the claimant possession but suspends the operation of the order. Provided the defendant complies with the terms of suspension, which usually require the defendant to pay the current mortgage or rent instalments plus some of the accrued arrears, the possession order cannot be enforced. (7) All figures are rounded to the nearest five. (8) Data up until the first quarter of 2010 (January to March) will reflect Pendle constituency boundaries as fixed at the 2005 general election and for the rest of 2010 and 2011 the re-fixed boundaries as of May 2010. (9) All 2011 figures are based on provisional data. Source: Ministry of Justice

Society of Editors: Media Lawyers Association

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions his Department has had with the (a) Society of Editors and (b) Media Lawyers Association since May 2010; and if he will place in the Library a copy of any correspondence between his Department and these bodies.

Jonathan Djanogly: On 10 August 2010 and 7 April 2011 departmental officials held meetings on the draft Defamation Bill with media stakeholders, including the Society of Editors and Media Lawyers Association. The Secretary of State spoke at the Society of Editors' annual conference in November 2011. In addition, there has been some correspondence between the Department and the Society of Editors and the Media Lawyers Association. I have placed copies of the relevant correspondence in the Library.

Translation Services

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants have had with the European Commission on Directive 2010/64/EU; whether the United Kingdom has notified the European Commission of a wish to participate in the adoption and application of this Directive; when the UK plans to transpose the Directive fully; what assessment has been made of the compatibility of the Framework Agreement on translation services with the Directive; and whether Applied Language Solutions will be bound by the Directive in its implementation of its contract for outsourced translation services.

Jonathan Djanogly: Directive 2010/64/EU on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings was negotiated in the usual way within the ordinary legislative procedure. This process involves a number of expert Working Groups where officials represent the UK to develop the text. It was also discussed by officials at COREPER before coming to Ministers in a JHA Council for agreement. There have been no specific meetings between officials or Ministers and the European Commission to discuss this directive outside this process.
	The UK Government opted into the directive at the outset of negotiations and agreed to the final text at a JHA Council in October 2010. The directive has an implementation date of 27 October 2013, which is common to all member states bound by the directive. The UK will take steps to implement the measure fully by that time. Analysis of the options for implementation is under way and the Government will consider these in due course. The Framework Agreement with Applied Language Solutions makes clear that provision of service must be compliant with the requirements of any EU measures on interpretation or translation.

Translation Services

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 5 July 2011, Official Report, columns 86-7WS, on interpretation and translation services how the figure of £18 million was calculated;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost of his Department's adoption of the Framework Agreement on translation services;
	(3)  what impact assessment was carried out before awarding a contract for outsourced translation support to Applied Language Solutions;
	(4)  what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the contract for translation services for the Olympic Games with Applied Language Solutions (a) prior to and (b) after awarding the contract for court translation services to that company;
	(5)  how many and what proportion of criminal trials required the presence of a translator in the last year;
	(6)  pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Tooting of 13 October 2011, Official Report, columns 534-6W and the answer to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent South of 20 December 2011, Official Report, column 1135W, which six organisations were invited to give outline solutions for the Commercial Framework Agreement to deliver language services in the criminal justice system; and which organisations were invited to submit detailed solutions.

Crispin Blunt: The information is as follows:
	(1) The estimated annual spend across the justice sector is in the region of £60 million. This was calculated using sample data provide by justice organisations. Savings were modelled using detailed sample data from the police, tribunals, courts and the Crown Prosecution Service comparing rates paid under previous arrangements against cost under the new arrangements. This provided a figure in the region of £18 million savings across the justice sector taking account those police forces which had initially expressed an interest in signing contracts under the framework agreement.
	(2) The precise annual cost of the contract will depend on the number of interpreters required under the new system. Based on current patterns of demand we anticipate that once fully embedded the annual cost will be in the region of £18 million (based on the current cost of £30 million). The new contract will provide much greater transparency of the overall cost of interpretation and translation.
	(3) The Ministry of Justice considered all the impacts of the new delivery mechanism including conducting an equality impact assessment.
	(4) The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), has not had any discussions with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt) about the award of any contracts for language services for the Olympics. The Ministry of Justice contract for language services was awarded to Applied Language Solutions following a fair and open procurement process.
	(5) This information is not available.
	(6) The six organisations invited to submit an outline solutions were:
	Applied Language Solutions; Language Line Services;
	The Big Word;
	K International plc;
	Computacentre UK Ltd; and
	Merrill Legal Solutions.
	The three organisations invited to submit a detailed solution were:
	Applied Language Solutions;
	Language Line Services; and
	The Big Word.

Young Offenders: Sports

Damian Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what recent guidelines his Department issues on the provision of sporting activities for young adult male prisoners aged between 18 and 21; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent guidelines his Department has issued on the provision of sporting activities in young offender institutions; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has responsibility for providing instructions to all prisons on the provision of Physical Education activities for prisoners including young adult male prisoners.
	The most recent guidelines are contained within Prison Service Instruction 58/2011, Physical Education (PE) for Prisoners which became effective from 1 October 2011.
	The PSI contains various specifications that prisons are expected to meet, specifically that all prisoners will have access to remedial PE activity. The ultimate responsibility lies with the governing governor for determining and publishing PE activities that are both suitable for their population and prison environment.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Regulation

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to reduce the burden of regulation on farmers; and what estimate she has made of the cost to industry of such regulation.

James Paice: We set up the Farming Regulation Task Force in July 2010 to carry out an independent review. It reported to Government in May 2011 and recommended over 200 ways of reducing unnecessary “red tape” and reducing regulatory burdens on farmers and food processors. The Government published their full response to the Task Force on 21 February:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/farm-manage/farm-regulation/
	We have accepted 159 of the Task Force's recommendations and are considering what could be possible on a further 31. The Food Standards Agency also published an update on 18 recommendations directed to them.
	We published an initial assessment of the costs and benefits of all our regulation in ‘The Costs and Benefits of DEFRA's Regulatory Stock’ in August 2011:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/2011/08/16/pb13623-defra-regulatory-stock/

Common Sugar Regime

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received on the EU sugar regime; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman), and I have met with, or received correspondence from, a wide range of sugar stakeholder interests in recent months. These include the National Farmers Union, AB Sugar, Tate and Lyle Sugars, representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and Least Developed Countries (LDC) groupings of nations, the United Kingdom Industrial Sugar Users Group, the Food and Drink Federation, representatives of several manufacturing companies in the UK food and drink sector and a number of individual sugar beet growers.
	All of these have expressed views on the current management and potential reform of the EU sugar regime which will be taken into account within the UK position as the reform negotiations unfold.

Dogs: Breeding

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if her Department will consider revising the breeding regulations for dogs to reduce the practice of (a) puppy farming and (b) irresponsible breeding.

James Paice: There are no plans to review existing laws on dog breeding. However, in response to concerns over the health and welfare of pedigree dogs, an independent Dog Advisory Council was set up in 2010, under the chairmanship of Professor Sheila Crispin. The Council works with key dog interest groups such as the Kennel Club and Dogs Trust to try and tackle problems associated with genetic defects in pedigree dogs. The Government will of course consider any recommendations that the Dog Advisory Council make.

Dogs: Electric Shock Equipment

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of her Department's research project on the implications for the welfare of dogs of electric shock collars.

James Paice: We expect to publish the findings of the research into the effects of electronic training devices on dogs in spring. It is not possible to say at this stage when an assessment will be made, as we do not have the final research findings.

Farmers: Income

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of farmers earned incomes less than the minimum wage in each of the last five years.

James Paice: The following table shows the estimate of the proportion of farmers whose returns from the operation of their farm business was equivalent to less than the adult minimum wage for each of the last five years for which data are available(1).
	(1) ( )This is based on farm business income per unpaid worker (full-time equivalent) and may include individuals below the age threshold for the adult minimum wage rate. Farm business income represents the financial return to all unpaid labour (farmers and spouses, non-principal partners and directors and their spouses and family workers) and on all their capital invested in the farm business, including land and buildings. It is the relatively small difference between two large numbers (output and input costs). Therefore small changes in either of these two numbers can have a substantial impact on farm business income and wide fluctuations from year to year are not unusual.
	
		
			 March  to  February  each year Proportion of farmers earning incomes less than the minimum wage (1)  (%) 
			 2006-07 43 
			 2007-08 34 
			 2008-09 31 
			 2009-10 35 
			 2010-11 31 
			 (1) Based on the adult minimum wage rate adjusted for March to February years/ Source: Farm Business Survey, England

Food Supply

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding her Department provided to local food chain initiatives in each of the last five years.

James Paice: DEFRA support for local food chain initiatives in England over the last five years has come mainly from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). During this period this funding has supported initiatives including, support for local food marketing linked to tourism activity, individual food producers and retail outlets, food hubs and farmers' markets. Support will continue to be available through the new RDPE nationally consistent schemes.
	DEFRA does not record spend on local food chain initiatives specifically. However, the following table shows funding under the budget heading of 'adding value to agricultural and forestry products', the measure of the RDPE which covers the majority of the funded actions that benefit food chain activity.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 Spend 4.320 5.775 15.567 20.398 13.698 
			 Committed 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 8.911 
			 Total 4.320 5.775 15.567 20.398 22.610 
		
	
	In addition, I know that across the country there are a range of local food groups of different sizes and membership emerging, often bringing together growers, processors and small food businesses. We welcome the development of these groups and the many benefits they can bring to producers and the local community, particularly to support local growth, but recognise that with the recent changes to the regional tier and closure of RDAs, it is for local communities and Local Economic Partnerships to decide where and how initiatives of this nature develop.

Food Supply

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to increase the sustainability of food (a) productivity and (b) security.

James Paice: The Government have placed the need for growth and productivity in the agri-food sector at the heart of DEFRA’s business plan. Our aim is to enhance the competitiveness and resilience of the whole food chain and to secure an environmentally sustainable and healthy supply of food, and this aim is embedded within all our policy work.
	The Green Food Project is looking at the challenge of how we can increase food production in England, whilst simultaneously enhancing the environment, and how we might reconcile any tensions that this challenge raises.
	The Government are investing about £400 million per annum on research including up to £90 million over five years for collaborative research and development with industry, to stimulate technological innovation in areas such as crop productivity, sustainable livestock production, waste reduction and management, and greenhouse gas reduction. Government funders, industry and third sector are working together to through the Government Chief Scientists' Food Research Partnership and the Global Food Security programme to address these challenges through coordinated multi-disciplinary research.
	This Government are committed to ensuring the UK's food security in both the short and long term. Last year the Government's Chief Scientific Advisor Sir John Beddington produced a Foresight report “The Future of Food and Farming: challenges and choices for global sustainability”. This report looks at how the UK can respond to challenges such as population growth and climate change along with other pressures on the food system and challenges governments worldwide to take action.
	DEFRA and DFID have signed up to a Foresight action plan to address the challenges on food security set out in the report. You can access DEFRA’s Foresight action plan and the Foresight report at the following website:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/foresight/our-work/projects/published-projects/global-food-and-farming-futures/reports-and-publications
	Food security cannot be delivered by focusing on self-sufficiency. International trade has an important role in providing food security and we are seeking to support our industry in accessing and maximising opportunities within export markets. That is why this Government recently published the UK Export Action Plan. This is the result of Government working closely with industry to boost exports, promote innovation and encourage further growth, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises.

Forestry Commission Wales

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate she has made of (a) the cost of a withdrawal of Forestry Commission Wales from Forestry Commission Great Britain and (b) the costs of any such withdrawal that will be incurred in (i) Wales, (ii) England and (iii) Scotland.

James Paice: The Welsh Government have recently announced their intention to form a single environmental body. This is a matter for the Welsh Government, but we will be looking to ensure that there is an orderly transfer of work, and that the Welsh Government fund all costs associated with the change, the details of which have still to be determined.

Forests: Dorset

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when negotiations commenced between Dorset County Council and the Forestry Commission into the disposal of a lease of land at Cannon Hill, Ferndown, Dorset; when she expects those negotiations to be concluded; and whether any disposal of Cannon Hill plantation by the Forestry Commission is subject to Ministerial approval.

James Paice: No negotiations have taken place between the Forestry Commission and Dorset county council on the sale or lease of Uddens (Cannon Hill) Plantation, although there have been discussions about the suitability of the land for a Gypsy or Traveller site. Any disposal of Public Forest Estate would ultimately need to be approved by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs Spelman). However, we have not yet reached that stage of the process.

Horse Passports

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions there have been for the offence of a horse owner not having a valid horse passport in each of the last three years.

James Paice: Records held on the Animal Health and Welfare Management and Enforcement System (AMES) show that in the last three calendar years, the number of prosecutions in England were as follows:
	
		
			 Calendar year Prosecution initiated Conviction achieved Charges withdrawn Subject to Appeal Appeal upheld-conviction stands 
			 2009 0 0 0 0 0 
			 2010 3 2 1 0 0 
			 2011 1 0 1 0 0 
		
	
	The 2011 figures show one prosecution initiated. This figure corrects that given in my reply of 15 November 2011, Official Report, column 737W, to the hon. Member for York Outer (Julian Sturdy), which indicated that three prosecutions had been initiated. The figures in the above table relate to England only whereas the figures given in my previous answer were for England and Wales.
	The AMES database records enforcement activity related to a registered holding that has been issued a Country Parish Holding number. Data relating to other premises, roadside checks of transporters, or other locations, or by bodies other than those local authorities that upload data to AMES, are not held.

Horticulture: Finance

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding was provided to (a) the HortLINK programme from (i) her Department and (ii) other sources and (b) research and development into ornamental horticulture under the HortLINK programme in each year from 1997 to 2009.

James Paice: Funding to the HortLINK programme between 1997 and 2009 is shown as follows:
	
		
			 £ 
			  DEFRA contribution Approximate contribution from other funders 
			 1997-98 107,437 140,000 
			 1998-99 550,608 700,000 
			 1999-2000 1,096,750 1,500,000 
			 2000-01 1,821,516 2,300,000 
			 2001-02 1,340,530 1,800,000 
			 2002-03 853,284 1,300,000 
			 2003-04 759,186 1,200,000 
			 2004-05 701,225 1,000,000 
			 2005-06 865,192 1,200,000 
			 2006-07 1,093,642 1,600,000 
			 2007-08 1,310,899 1,700,000 
			 2008-09 1,465,245 1,600,000 
			 2009-10 1,268,773 2,000,000 
		
	
	Research and development on ornamental horticulture funded through the HortLINK programme between 1997 and 2009 is shown as follow:
	
		
			 £ 
			  DEFRA contribution Approximate contribution from other funders 
			 1997-98 48,810 53,000 
			 1998-99 119,500 130,000 
			 1999-2000 348,201 390,000 
			 2000-01 344,669 390,000 
			 2001-02 298,110 340,000 
			 2002-03 163,275 190,000 
			 2003-04 60,500 61,000 
			 2004-05 156,043 120,000 
			 2005-06 301,462 230,000 
			 2006-07 318,236 310,000 
			 2007-08 418,314 410,000 
			 2008-09 405,026 390,000 
			 2009-10 260,308 250,000 
			 Source: DEFRA figures: OMNICOM. Contributions from other funders are estimated from the costs agreed at the issue of each grant, split by financial year in proportion to DEFRA expenditure. 
		
	
	Other funders include the Scottish Government, the devolved Administrations, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Levy Bodies and other industry contributions (cash and in-kind).

Livestock: Antibiotics

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidelines her Department issues on pre-emptive antibiotic use in livestock.

James Paice: The greater majority of antibiotics authorised for use in the UK are for the treatment of disease and it is down to the discretion of the prescribing veterinary surgeon to decide if there is a need to use to use an antibiotic to prevent a disease.
	Nevertheless, the routine use of antibiotics to prevent disease is not regarded as responsible use of these medicines. Accordingly, the Government have published a code of practice on the responsible use of medicines on the farm and a leaflet on antimicrobials on the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's website. The Government also work closely with the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) Alliance, which has produced guidance on responsible use of antibiotics for different livestock sectors all of which can be found on the RUMA website. Furthermore, the British Veterinary Association (BVA) has produced a poster on the responsible use of antimicrobials for veterinary practices.

Milk

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely effect of the EU Dairy Package on the milk industry in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) Scotland; and what outcome she sought in discussions with her EU counterparts on the Dairy Package.

James Paice: We have remained in close contact with representatives from across the UK dairy industry and with the devolved Administrations throughout the negotiation of the EU Dairy Package. We believe the likely effects will be similar across the UK.
	We sought only beneficial outcomes which would enable the competitiveness of our industry and avoid any barriers to trade. We sought to minimise burdens on industry and Government and to avoid increased EU spending. While we recognise that the package does not do everything quite as we would have liked, we welcome those elements which can be beneficial to the supply chain and we are now able to support it.
	In particular we believe that the package should increase the bargaining power of producers if they form recognised producer organisations which can then negotiate the sale to purchasers of their milk including the price. Although we will consult on whether to make contracts for the sale of raw milk mandatory in line with the package if it is adopted, we do not expect that that would have any significant effect in the UK. This is why we strongly encourage the industry to adopt as soon as possible its own voluntary code of practice which should enable broader and quicker improvement to contractual relationships between producers and purchasers (milk processors).

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Internet

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what public services his Department delivers online only.

John Penrose: This Department does not deliver any public services online only.

Departmental Pay

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible are paid (i) £100,000 and (ii) £142,500 or more per annum.

John Penrose: There are currently five officials in this Department paid £100,000 or more per annum, and three paid £142,500 or more per annum. Remuneration details for officials who earn more than £142,500 are disclosed annually in our consolidated, resource accounts.
	The Department does not collate this information for its arm's length bodies. Accordingly, I have asked their chief executives to write to the hon. Member for Leeds North East. Copies of the replies will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Licensing: Alcoholic Drinks

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if his Department will consider placing community sports clubs in Band A for the purposes of alcohol licensing.

James Brokenshire: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Home Department.
	The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) overhauls the Licensing Act 2003 (the 2003 Act) to rebalance it in favour of local communities. The 2011 Act contains measures to enable the Home Secretary to prescribe, in regulations, that licensing fee levels are determined by the licensing authority to which they are payable, so as to recover the full costs of discharging their functions under the 2003 Act. We will consult before introducing the regulations governing the fee structure. We will consider whether there are types of premises, such as community sports clubs, that should be subject to a separate fee category.

Olympic Games 2012: Interpreters

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) usability of his Department's contract with Applied Language Solutions for court translation services; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Justice.
	There have been an unacceptable number of problems in the first few weeks of the contract and we have made clear to the contractor that this must be changed. The contractor is taking urgent steps to improve performance including providing additional staff to deal with bookings, further targeted recruitment of interpreters in key languages and improvements to the call handling and complaints process.

Olympic Games 2012: National Lottery

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 15 December 2011, Official Report, column 832W, on Olympic Games 2012: National Lottery, how the increase in Lottery funding available will be divided amongst distributors; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: Income raised for the national lottery good causes is divided among the distributors on the basis of shares approved by Parliament. Future income shall continue to be allocated on this basis.

Public Holidays

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had on the introduction of public bank holidays in (a) Wales on St David's Day and (b) England on St George's Day.

John Penrose: As part of the Government's tourism policy, a pre-consultation on moving the May Day bank holiday was launched last year. We are considering the large number of responses received carefully and a decision will be made in due course. Beyond that, there have been no additional discussions specifically on other public bank holidays in Wales and England.

Sports: Homophobia

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to reduce homophobia and transphobia in sports.

Hugh Robertson: The Government launched Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality: Moving Forward on 14 March 2011 which sets out the actions Government are taking to tackle LGB&T inequality, with nine actions for sport. My officials work closely with the Government Equalities Office on this important agenda. The action plan is supported by the ‘Charter for Action’ which aims to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport, to make sport a welcoming environment for LGBT people and challenge unacceptable behaviour.
	The Charter has been signed by over 3,000 sports fans and sports organisations to date, and I am encouraged that the Football Association has just launched its first ever LGBT action plan to address issues at the grassroots and communities level. The Secretary of State chaired a summit at No. 10 alongside the Prime Minister, the Minister for Equalities, the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) and myself on 22 February 2012 with the football authorities, former players and campaign groups on discrimination in football, which included discussions about their plans to eradicate homophobia and transphobia in the game.

Television

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport when he intends to make a decision on the licence renewal for Channel 3 in Scotland.

Edward Vaizey: The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), is considering the options for re-licensing Channels 3 and 5 across the UK alongside the wider consideration of the public service broadcasting landscape as part of the communications review and will make a decision in due course.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Action for Employment

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what contracts her Department has with A4e; and what the (a) purpose and (b) value is of each such contract.

Theresa May: On 1 April 2011, the Government Equalities Office became part of the Home Office. Information relating to the Government Equalities Office will be included in the reply of the Minister for Immigration, my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Damian Green).

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what steps she is taking to establish (a) the reason and (b) who was responsible for the breach of the 2009-10 pay remit at the Equality and Human Rights Commission; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa May: The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to the House on the Equality and Human Rights Commission's 2009-10 accounts set out the reasons and responsibility for the breach of the pay remit.

Equality and Human Rights Commission: Veredus

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will place a copy of the contract between the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Veredus Interim Management in respect of the employment of an Interim Group Director of Communications in the Library; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa May: holding answer 27 February 2012
	It is not appropriate to publish the details of an individual contract as this contains third party information and personal data.
	The Government continue to impress upon the EHRC the need for it to reduce its dependence on expensive interim staff, whose numbers have fallen sharply in recent months.

Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will support a public debate on the annual report of the Human Trafficking Centre.

Damian Green: holding answer 23 February 2012
	The UK Human Trafficking Centre is part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency. It does not produce a separate annual report. Many human trafficking debates already occur within and outside Parliament.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Building Regulations

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussion officials in his Department had with the Department for Communities and Local Government on changes to Part L of Building Regulations prior to the consultation on such changes.

Gregory Barker: holding answer 27 February 2012
	DECC officials meet regularly with their counterparts in the Department for Communities and Local Government and other Departments to discuss a range of issues. As has been the case with successive administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of such meetings.

Combined Heat and Power: Finance

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with HM Treasury on the effect on long-term support for combined heat and power of the (i) removal of levy exemption certificates and (ii) introduction of the carbon price floor.

Gregory Barker: DECC Ministers and officials meet regularly with their counterparts in HM Treasury to discuss a range of issues. As has been the case with successive Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of such meetings.

Departmental Internet

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what public services his Department delivers online only.

Gregory Barker: The following services are delivered solely online by the Department:
	Onshore and offshore well drilling consents;
	Permits for the use and discharge offshore of approved chemicals for drilling, maintenance and production activities;
	Environmental directions under the Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999 (as amended);
	Submission by industry of European emissions monitoring returns;
	Field production, flaring and venting consents;
	Notification of offshore decommissioning liabilities;
	Overhead electricity line consents.
	The following services are delivered solely online by our sponsored bodies and partners:
	Combined heat and power site assessment tool (AEA);
	UK combined heat and power development map (AEA);
	Microgeneration certification scheme supplier certificates (MCS);
	Renewable obligation order feed-in tariff accreditation (Ofgem).

Departmental Secondment

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many people have been seconded to his Department from the renewable energy sector.

Gregory Barker: There are currently no secondees working for the Department of Energy and Climate Change from the renewable energy sector.

Departmental Secondment

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many people have been seconded to his Department from the six largest energy suppliers.

Gregory Barker: There are currently no people seconded to the Department of Energy and Climate Change from the six largest energy suppliers.

Electric Vehicles

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will introduce a requirement for electric cars to make a noise to reduce the risk to (a) vision impaired and (b) other pedestrians of such vehicles.

Norman Baker: holding answer 27 February 2012
	I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Transport.
	The Department for Transport is currently engaged in discussions at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on recommendations for added sound from electric and electric hybrid vehicles. The Department will be seeking to ensure that such vehicles can be clearly heard and identified by visually impaired and other road users in sufficient time, and that the use of bells, chimes, sirens, music or other sounds that “confuse the identification of a vehicle and/or its operation” is prohibited.
	Regulations concerning vehicle construction are set at EU level and a recent proposal from the European Commission includes provisions to deal with added sound from electric and electric hybrid vehicles.

Electricity

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to page 25 of Planning our electric future: a White Paper for secure, affordable and low-carbon electricity, what progress he has made towards reducing central Government greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent.; and by how much central Government greenhouse gas emissions reduced in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011.

Gregory Barker: Over the year commencing 14 May 2010 the CO2 emissions of the central Government office estate reduced by 13.8%, compared with the preceding 12 months.
	We do not yet have complete data for the year 2011-12. It is intended to publish a report of the pan-Government picture later this year.

Energy: Housing

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of progress by the Local Energy Assessment Fund in supporting community projects which promote domestic energy efficiency.

Gregory Barker: The second tranche of winning LEAF (Local Action Assessment Fund) projects was announced on 6 February. It is therefore too soon to assess progress in any detail. Work on winning projects will continue to the end of the financial year.
	The Department is using the bids to create baselines against which our evaluation of LEAF will be done, later this year when projects are completed.
	There is an online facility for LEAF winning communities to enter updates on their projects on the interactive LEAF map. The LEAF map can be accessed at:
	http://ceo.decc.gov.uk

Energy: Meters

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that any lack of consumer engagement does not adversely affect the timetable for the smart meter rollout.

Charles Hendry: Timely and effective consumer engagement will be vital to ensure that consumers benefit from smart meters. The Smart Meters Implementation Programme has been working on the development of a strategy for consumer engagement and we will publish a consultation on the strategy in spring, which will include proposals on the objectives and activities for consumer engagement. Among these will be activities which need to be undertaken between now and the start of mass rollout to help ensure that suppliers can gain access to domestic properties for the installation of smart meters.

Energy: Planning Permission

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the answer of 20 February 2012, Official Report, column 476W, on energy: planning permission, for what reasons the Government does not believe that the Secretary of State is the appropriate decision-maker for major energy infrastructure in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Gregory Barker: The major infrastructure planning regimes are different in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for historical reasons and reflect the each nation's devolution settlement. The Planning Act 2008 and Localism Act 2011, which broadly cover England and Wales introduced the current major infrastructure planning regime. These changes were devolution neutral and did not make any significant changes to the division of responsibility between the local and national consenting authorities.
	Northern Ireland operates a separate electricity network and market, which it shares with the Republic of Ireland. The electricity networks infrastructure in England and Wales have a much greater degree of connectivity than that for England and Scotland, particularly at 132kV. This is due primarily to geographic factors: the network in Scotland tends to be focused on the central belt around Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Green Deal Scheme

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will place in the Library the guidelines, briefings and policy option documents issued to stakeholders by the Green Deal Code of Practice team on warranties for measures fitted as part of the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: holding answer 27 February 2012
	In light of responses received from the Green Deal consultation, we are currently reviewing the policy on what warranties should be provided as part of a Green Deal plan. A simple discussion paper was written and sent to potential Green Deal providers and other industry experts to provide an early indication of options suggested by stakeholders. The paper does not form an official Government response to the consultation but can be found at the following link:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/tackling-climate-change/green-deal/4459-green-deal-provider-warranty-proposals-draft-for-.pdf

Green Deal Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consultancy work his Department has commissioned related to the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation; and when he expects the outcomes of such work to be published.

Gregory Barker: We have commissioned advice from Grant Thornton, Ipsos Mori, Quadrangle, Deloitte LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst and Young. This advice was for DECC's own use in the policy making process and programme management and did not produce reports which were intended for publication. Deloitte also produced two reports on Green Deal finance and accounting for external use which have been published:
	Green Deal Finance: Public sector consideration for the Green Deal
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/green_deal/gd_industry/gd_la/gd_la.aspx
	Green Deal Finance: Accounting for the Green Deal in Energy Suppliers
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/green_deal/gd_industry/energy_compani/energy_compani.aspx
	Grant Thornton were commissioned to carry out a fraud risk review of the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation and present internal recommendations to DECC to ensure fraud is minimised in the design of both programmes.
	We also commissioned two pieces of work in relation to consumer research. Both of these were published alongside the Green Deal and ECO Consultation Document.
	Consumer needs and wants for the Green Deal
	Qualitative research exploring the consumer response to the Green Deal proposition among homeowners and small businesses
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/green-deal/3505-green-deal-consumer-needs-wants.pdf
	Green Deal and the Private Rented Sector
	Consumer research among tenants and landlords
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/consultation/green-deal/3506-green-deal-consumer-research-prs.pdf

Green Deal Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what key milestones his Department has set to monitor progress towards the launch of the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: The Government published draft secondary legislation alongside their consultation on 23 November 2011 (available from the DECC website). Subject to parliamentary approval, we expect to have the final legislation on the statute book by the summer recess.
	The Green Deal is a market driven mechanism and the Department is working closely with a wide range of stakeholders (including energy suppliers, financiers and potential Green Deal providers, assessors and installers) to ensure that the framework needed for Green Deals to happen is put in place by autumn 2012.

Green Deal Scheme

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to data-sharing between the Government and energy suppliers as a means of identifying and targeting households to be assisted by the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: The Department, with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), has considered the opportunities available to share information to enable targeting of the Green Deal. From April, DCLG expects to make energy efficiency information publicly available from the Register of Energy Performance Certificates in England and Wales. The information will also be available in bulk to certain authorised users, such as those certified under the Green Deal framework.
	DCLG have published a Privacy Impact Assessment which sets out the safeguards that will be put in place to protect the privacy of individuals and ensure they can opt out of having their data made available in this way.

Housing: Insulation

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what policies his Department has put in place to realise the Government's goal to insulate all lofts and cavities by 2020.

Gregory Barker: The Government's Carbon Plan sets out our overall ambition to reduce emissions from domestic and commercial buildings. The Green Deal will be launched later this year to help drive energy efficiency in buildings. Although Government have not set a formal sub-target for any individual measures, loft and wall insulation will be central, including completing practicable lofts and cavities by 2020 and supporting solid wall insulation through the Energy Company Obligation.

Housing: Insulation

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many solid wall insulation installations there were under the Community Energy Saving Programme in (a) 2009, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011; how many such installations he expects under this programme in 2012; and how many he expects there to be under the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation in (i) 2013, (ii) 2014 and (iii) 2015.

Gregory Barker: Ofgem published their estimate of measures installed under the Community Energy Saving Scheme (CESP) in September 2011, this indicated that 6,660 solid wall measures (internal and external) had been installed under CESP up to June 2011. Data for the period up to the end of 2011 will be published in March this year.
	The CESP impact assessment estimated that around 42,000 solid wall measures would be installed under CESP by the end of the scheme in December 2012.
	The expected levels of solid wall insulation installation under Green Deal and ECO are in the process of being updated. The following figures were published in the consultation impact assessment in November 2011: (i) 149,822 in 2013, (ii) 181,133 in 2014, and (iii) 45,964 in Q1 of 2015 (up until the end of the initial ECO period in March 2015). These figures did not consider supply chain constraints and updated figures will be published in the final stage impact assessment due for publication this spring.

Nuclear Power Stations

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will consider visiting the Ironbridge Power Station in Shropshire in 2012 for the purpose of meeting workers and management to discuss progress in reducing carbon dioxide emissions at this facility.

Gregory Barker: Subject to diary commitments a DECC Minister would be happy to visit Ironbridge Power Station when in the region. We are aware of plans to convert one unit at the station from coal to biomass.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 9 February 2012, Official Report, column 473, on feed-in tariffs, what the evidential basis is for the statement that there has been a 45 per cent. reduction in estimated installation costs since 2009.

Gregory Barker: DECC's latest evidence on falls in solar photovoltaic (PV) costs is set out in the draft impact assessment supporting the current consultation on solar PV cost control, and is available to view at:
	www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/Consultations/fits-review/4320-feedin-tariffs-review-phase-2a-draft-impact-asses.pdf

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 9 February 2012, Official Report, column 473, on feed-in tariffs, how many solar PV installations (a) were planned under the last administration and (b) are projected to take place by 2015.

Gregory Barker: Modelling undertaken prior to the launch of the FITs scheme projected that there would be approximately 310,000 solar photovoltaic (PV) installations under FITs by April 2015. Given uptake to date and under the central scenario for future uptake set out in the impact assessment accompanying the current consultation on solar PV, see:
	www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/Consultations/fits-review/4320-feedin-tariffs-review-phase-2a-draft-impact-asses.pdf
	we estimate that there could be approximately 930,000 solar PV installations by April 2015.
	Estimates of future solar PV growth are extremely uncertain, and depend on a number of assumptions such as future PV costs, and the growth of the PV market. DECC is continuously reviewing its estimates in the light of the latest evidence, and will provide updated assessments for the final impact assessment published alongside the Government response to the current consultation.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 9 February 2012, Official Report, column 474, on feed-in tariffs, what the current installed capacity of solar power is; and what forecast his Department has made of the solar capacity expected to be installed by (a) 2013, (b) 2014, (c) 2015, (d) 2016, (e) 2017, (f) 2018, (g) 2019 and (h) 2020.

Gregory Barker: The Department publishes the number and installed capacity of installations supported by FITs on a monthly basis. These statistics are available at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/source/fits/fits.aspx
	DECC's estimate of solar PV capacity estimated to come forward from 2012-13 to 2020-21 under our proposals is set out in the following table. This represents the central growth scenario that was modelled for the impact assessment supporting the current consultation on solar PV cost control see:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/Consultations/fits-review/4320-feedin-tariffs-review-phase-2a-draft-impact-asses.pdf
	
		
			  Mw, rounded capacity (Central Scenario) 
			 2012-13 1,800 
			 2013-14 2,700 
			 2014-15 4,300 
			 2015-16 6,200 
			 2016-17 8,500 
			 2017-18 11,000 
			 2018-19 14,000 
			 2019-20 18,000 
			 2020-21 22,000 
		
	
	The figures in the table give the central assumption on possible PV deployment levels if costs fall as rapidly as forecast in the independent analysis commissioned for DECC. The impact assessment sets out the considerable uncertainty surrounding these PV costs and learning rates assumptions, and sets out the wide range of potential deployment by 2020 under high and low PV cost assumptions. It is important to note that any deployment of PV at large scale would also depend on addressing issues around distribution and transmission network costs.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 9 February 2012, Official Report, column 474, on feed-in tariffs, what the evidential basis is for the statement that up to 20GW of solar power could be installed in the UK by 2020.

Gregory Barker: Under the central deployment scenario set out in the Impact Assessment accompanying the current consultation on solar photovoltaic (PV) cost control:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/Consultations/fits-review/4320-feedin-tariffs-review-phase-2a-draft-impact-asses.pdf
	we estimate that there could be approximately 22 GW of solar PV by 2020 in the central scenario. The assumptions behind this estimate are set out in the Impact Assessment.
	Estimates of future solar PV growth are extremely uncertain, and depend on a number of assumptions such as future PV costs, and the growth of the PV market.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 9 February 2012, Official Report, column 478, on feed-in tariffs, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the cost to consumers will be £1.5 billion if the Government loses its appeal to the Supreme Court.

Gregory Barker: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 February 2012, Official Report, column 479W, to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas).

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change with reference to the Impact Assessment, Comprehensive Review Phase 2A consultation on feed-in tariffs for solar PV, what forecast his Department has made of the number of properties that (a) have an energy efficiency rating of Level D or higher and (b) are expected to have an energy efficiency rating of Level D by (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14, (iii) 2014-15 and (iv) 2015-16.

Gregory Barker: The Impact Assessment supporting the Government's response to the consultation on Feed-in Tariffs for solar photovoltaics refers to estimates based on the 2009 English Household Survey dwelling sample data which suggest that the proportion of houses currently at or above Band D is just under 50% (or approximately 11.3 million dwellings), while slightly more non-domestic buildings were at this level.
	Although the Department has not conducted analysis specifically on level E-G properties getting to a level of D, our analysis shows that through the uptake of forthcoming Green Deal finance an average of 60,000 households in bands D-G could be brought up to an EPC rating of above D each year between 2013 and 2022.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of projected expenditure on feed-in tariffs within the spending envelope in each year to 2015.

Gregory Barker: holding answer 27 February 2012
	DECC's estimates of projected expenditure versus the FITs budget for the spending review period under our central scenario are set out in Annex A of the impact assessment supporting the current consultation on solar PV cost control:
	www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/Consultations/fits-review/4320-feedin-tariffs-review-phase-2a-draft-impact-asses.pdf
	Estimates of future scheme costs are extremely uncertain, and depend on a number of assumptions such as future technology costs, and market growth. DECC is continuously reviewing its estimates in the light of the latest evidence, and will provide updated assessments for the final impact assessment published alongside the Government response to the current consultation.

Severn Water: Environment Protection

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will visit the new Severn Water headquarters in Shrewsbury to see the construction methods ensuring an environmentally friendly carbon neutral impact.

Gregory Barker: I welcome the news that Severn Trent Water has invested in its flagship headquarters, which demonstrates a strong commitment to saving energy and building a green future. It provides an encouraging exemplar for other UK businesses, and I wish them well with the project. I would be happy to consider an invitation to the building when next in the region.

Solar Power

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the average level of income received was from the feed-in tariff by households with domestic solar PV installations in 2010-11.

Gregory Barker: For the 18,073 domestic (<4kW) installations in the 2010-11 period, Ofgem estimate that total generation payments of £5,919,525.48 and export payments of £209,752.80 were made. These figures are based on the total number of installations registered over the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March2011.
	Ofgem does not, and is not required to, collect data on individual payments under the Feed-in Tariffs scheme.

WALES

Action for Employment

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what contracts her Department has with A4e; and what the (a) purpose and (b) value is of each such contract.

David Jones: The Wales Office holds no contracts with A4e.

Departmental Pay

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which her Department is responsible are paid (i) £100,000 or more and (ii) £142,500 or more per annum in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Jones: None.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Affordable Housing

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2012, Official Report, column 577W, how many homes qualified for the affordable homes premium in years 1 and 2, in each local authority area in England. [R]

Grant Shapps: holding answer 27 February 2012
	A copy of the table giving the figures for year 2 has been placed in the Library of the House.
	The first affordable homes premium will be paid as part of the year 2 new homes bonus final allocation. This is paid in respect of affordable homes completed between April 2010 and April 2011. This is because the affordable homes data are collected on an April to April basis, but not available until the following October. Data for the main grant are collected October to October and available by the end of October.
	A total of £21.2 million affordable housing premium has been allocated for year 2 in respect of 60,690 gross affordable units, of which 60,643 were affordable housing and 47 were affordable Traveller pitches.

Affordable Housing: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new units of affordable housing in the London Borough of Bexley were (a) one bedroom, (b) two bedroom, (c) three bedroom and (d) four or more bedroom (i) flats and (ii) houses in each of the last five years.

Andrew Stunell: The following table provides information on new build affordable housing completions for the London borough of Bexley through the Homes and Communities Agency's National Affordable Housing Programme and previous programme over the five years 2006-07 to 2010-11.
	
		
			 Number of new build completions of affordable housing in the London borough of Bexley, by type of accommodation and number of bedrooms, 2006 - 10 
			  Flat House  
			  Number of bedrooms: Number of bedrooms:  
			  1 2 3 4 2 3 4 5 Total 
			 2006-07 20 63 0 0 0 4 14 0 101 
			 2007-08 48 148 1 0 11 35 2 0 245 
			 2008-09 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 
			 2009-10 19 66 35 0 3 15 6 0 144 
			 2010-11 46 78 34 16 0 12 28 4 218 
			 Source: Homes and Communities Agency Investment Management System 
		
	
	The figures do not include affordable homes delivered through acquisition and refurbishment schemes. The table does not include affordable homes delivered by the local authority or through Section 106 without grant.

Coastal Communities Fund

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what methodology was used to determine the amount of funding for each part of the UK in the Coastal Communities Fund.

Grant Shapps: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 21 February 2012, Official Report, column 778W.

Council Housing: West Midlands

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of new local authority homes to be built in (a) Redditch and (b) the West Midlands in 2012, arising from changes to the housing revenue account.

Andrew Stunell: Over time we expect local authorities to be in a position to self fund new housing and those authorities who have paid down debt in the past will be in a position to build new homes with or without further support. The circumstances will vary from authority to authority and will depend on their own assessments of housing need. The self financing settlement is necessarily formulaic and it is not possible for central Government to estimate the scope for new homes at the individual authority level.

Green Deal Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the expected level of take-up for the Green Deal in (a) 2013, (b) 2014 and (c) 2015 as of result of the new requirements placed on consequential improvements under his proposals for new building regulation standards.

Andrew Stunell: The consultation stage impact assessment published on 31 January 2012 alongside the wider paper proposing changes to Part L of the Building Regulations, to introduce new requirements for consequential improvements for existing buildings estimates that the potential number of properties to which this policy would relate would be 120,000 in 2013, 910,000 in 2014 and 970,000 in 2015. The Part L consultation states that Green Deal must be available as an option to meet the up-front cost of any consequential improvements, although building owners are free to choose another financing mechanism.

Non-domestic Rates

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the merits of introducing a two per cent. cap on business rates; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Neill: No assessment has been made of the merits of introducing a 2% cap on business rates.
	We are giving businesses the option of spreading the retail prices index increase for 2012-13 over the next three years. Businesses will be able to defer payment of 60% of the retail prices index increase in their 2012-13 rates bills until 2013-14 and 2014-15. This will give businesses flexibility to manage their rates bills in the current economic climate, help their cash flow, and give them time to adjust to the impact of inflation.
	We have also extended the small business rate relief holiday, effectively doubling small business rate relief throughout 2012-13, providing reliable financial help to small firms and small shops.

Non-domestic Rates

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much was provided to businesses through the business rate relief scheme in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of the business rate relief scheme was in each year;
	(2)  how much was collected in business rates in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Bob Neill: Details of the net yield from national non-domestic rates collected in England between 2006-07 and 2010-11, ie the amount collected after reliefs have been deducted but before an allowance for collection costs and losses, are available in Table 1 of the Statistical Release ‘National non-domestic rates collected by local authorities in England 2010-11’ that was published on the DCLG website on 25 August 2011 and can be found at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/localregional/localgovernmentfinance/statistics/nondomesticrates/outturn/
	Table 1 also gives details of the type and value of relief granted in each year; these figures are explained more fully in Tables 3a to 3c in the same publication.

Planning Permission

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions officials in his Department had with officials in the Regulations Oversight Group of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills prior to the introduction of the Non-domestic Self-funding Software Validation Service.

Andrew Stunell: holding answer 27 February 2012
	The introduction of the Non-domestic Self-Funding Software Validation Service involved no regulatory changes that would, in the normal course of events, require discussion with the Regulations Oversight Group of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	Since the introduction on 25 January, we have said that neither DCLG nor the operator of the Energy Performance Certificate Register will introduce any changes for the purposes of complying with Part L of the Building Regulations or for generating Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates that would trigger the need for software for non-domestic buildings to undergo validation in 2012. The only exception to this is air conditioning software, which will need to undergo validation prior to the statutory requirement to lodge air conditioning reports onto the non-domestic Energy Performance Certificate Register coming into force in April. Air conditioning software providers were advised in October that central funding was no longer available for third party software validation, and that alternative arrangements would be introduced.

Planning Permission

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he carried out (a) a consultation exercise and (b) an impact assessment prior to the introduction of the Non-domestic Self-funding Software Validation Service.

Andrew Stunell: holding answer 27 February 2012
	The Department has held, and continues to hold, discussions with industry partners about how best to deliver, and maintain, the validation service for software developed by, and to understand the impact of any changes on, commercial practices for assessing the energy performance of non-domestic buildings. The changes to the Software Validation Service involved no regulatory changes that would, in the normal course of events, require a formal consultation process or impact assessment to be undertaken.
	Since the introduction on 25 January, we have said that neither DCLG nor the operator of the Energy Performance Certificate Register will introduce any changes for the purposes of complying with Part L of the Building Regulations or for generating Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates that would trigger the need for software for non-domestic buildings to undergo validation in 2012. The only exception to this is air conditioning software, which will need to undergo validation prior to the statutory requirement to lodge air conditioning reports onto the non-domestic Energy Performance Certificate Register coming into force in April. Air conditioning software providers were advised in October that central funding was no longer available for third party software validation, and that alternative arrangements would be introduced.

Social Services: Disadvantaged

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many councils have allocated the 60 per cent. of funding to access the 40 per cent. matched funding from central Government to deal with troubled families.

Grant Shapps: This information is not currently available. Funding for the Troubled Families programme becomes available from 2012-13. However local authorities' preparations for the Troubled Families programme are under way; every upper tier local authority has accepted an offer of £20,000 preparatory funding in this financial year for the programme.

Social Services: Disadvantaged

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new family workers he has recruited to work with troubled families; and with which councils they work.

Grant Shapps: Recruitment of individual Troubled Families co-ordinators will be handled by upper tier local authorities. Troubled Families co-ordinators will have a strategic role in local authorities to plan, develop and co-ordinate services for troubled families and lever in resources from partners locally. Funding for these co-ordinators will be provided to local authorities from April 2012, so we would expect them to be in post soon after that.

Social Services: Disadvantaged

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much of the £448 million allocated to the 120,000 families has been allocated to date; and what expressions of interest he has received from local authorities outside the areas of the family support pilots in the creation of community budget schemes.

Grant Shapps: The £448 million will become available from April 2012 to all upper tier local authorities. All of these authorities have accepted an offer of £20,000 preparatory funding in this financial year for the programme, which is a strong indication of interest across England. Further details on the arrangements for the new programme, including the payment arrangements, will be announced shortly as they are currently under development.

Urban Areas: Planning Permission

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of new retail floor space completed in each year since 2006 based on Valuation Office Agency data was in a town centre.

Bob Neill: This information is not held centrally.

Urban Areas: Planning Permission

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of new retail development, in terms of floor space, that has been granted planning permission since January 2008 is in town centres.

Bob Neill: Information is not available centrally on the proportion of new retail development granted planning permission in town centres.

Urban Areas: Planning Permission

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many appeals for major retail developments have been recovered for decision by him since January 2008; what those developments were; whether they were for town centre schemes or in out-of-centre locations; and what the outcome was of each appeal.

Bob Neill: The Secretary of State has recovered 10 appeals for major retail development since January 2008. Details are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Name of development Description of development Whether in a town centre Appeal outcome 
			 Brielle Way, Sheerness, Kent Outline application for two retail warehouses Out of town Dismiss appeal 
			 Brighton Marina, Brighton, Sussex Demolition of existing store, redevelopment to create larger store of 11,412 sq m with 2,025 sq m of other class Al-A5 uses and residential units Out of town Dismiss appeal 
			 Station Road Backworth, North Tyneside 2,787sq m offices and two A1 units (10,387 sq m) Edge of centre Dismiss appeal 
			 Greenwich Market, London Demolition of buildings and construction of hotel (C1), retail (Al-A5) and other uses Out of town Allow appeal 
		
	
	
		
			 Vesuvius Works, Worksop, Notts 6,500 sq m food store, offices, light industry, storage/distribution, hotel, restaurants and community facilities Edge of centre Dismiss appeal 
			 White City Way, Old Trafford, Greater Manchester A1 food store (9,036 sq m) and two A1 non-food stores (2,357 sq m) Out of town Dismiss appeal 
			 Ashton Gate Stadium, Wedlock Way, (Bristol) Redevelopment of football stadium for 12,852 sq m A1 retail store (outline) (4.26 ha) Not yet known Not yet decided 
			 Land to the west of Scotforth Road, Lancaster New food store (7,250 sq m), hotel/pub/restaurant, filling station, roundabout access Not yet known Not yet decided 
			 Former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. Derby Mixed use regeneration scheme comprising 400 dwellings and 9,649 sq m A1, A3, A4 and B1 retail floor space (5,685 sq m) Not yet known Not yet decided 
			 Former Bath Press Site, Bath Mixed use redevelopment comprising 6,300 sq m of retail (Class Al), 4,580 sq m of creative work space and 2,830 sq m of offices Not yet known Not yet decided

Urban Areas: Planning Permission

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps (a) to assess the effectiveness of the Government's ‘town centres first’ policy by monitoring (i) the location of new planning consents for major retail applications and (ii) completions of retail developments and (b) to issue frequent and regular reports on the outcome of those assessments.

Bob Neill: The DCLG draft Statistics Plan in 2011 confirmed that options would be considered for providing statistics to monitor town centre policy.
	The Government are committed to supporting town centres; the draft National Planning Policy Framework clearly asks local authorities to recognise town centres as the heart of their communities and pursue policies to support their viability and vitality.
	The Government's response to the Portas Review will also outline proposals to support town centres and local high streets.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will commission a review of planning policy statement 22 on renewable energy.

Bob Neill: In our consultation on the draft National Planning Policy Framework we proposed cancelling Planning Policy Statement 22: “Renewable Energy” together with other policy documents which will be replaced by the framework. We are committed to publishing the final version of the framework by 31 March 2012.

SCOTLAND

Devolution: Advocate-General for Scotland

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent devolution issues the Advocate-General has considered.

David Mundell: The hon. Member asked a similar question on 10 January 2012, Official Report, column 102W.
	Since 10 January 2012, the Advocate-General for Scotland has received a total of 67 minutes notifying him of devolution issues, all of which relate to criminal matters.

STV

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport on the production status of STV.

David Mundell: The Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Michael Moore), and I are in contact with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), on a range of matters that are relevant to broadcasting in Scotland, including the digital infrastructure and local television.

Television

Ann McKechin: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport on the timing of the renewal of the Channel 3 licence in Scotland.

David Mundell: The Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Michael Moore), and I are in contact with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), on a range of matters of matters that are relevant to broadcasting in Scotland, including renewal of the Channel 3 Licence, the digital infrastructure and local television.

TRANSPORT

Air Travel Organisers' Licence

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many full-time equivalent staff in her Department are working on reform of the Air Travel Organisers Licence.

Theresa Villiers: holding answer 27 February 2012
	Due to work practices it is difficult to be precise, but I estimate that there is the equivalent of up to two and a half full-time members of staff in the Department for Transport working on reform of the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing scheme.

Bus Services: Concessions

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions she has had with ministerial colleagues on means-testing of pensioners' bus passes.

Norman Baker: We have no plans to introduce means testing to assess eligibility for concessionary bus travel for older people. The right to free bus travel for both older and disabled people is enshrined in primary legislation. In the 2010 spending review, the Government stated that they will protect the statutory entitlement for concessionary bus travel.

Bus Services: Concessions

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many pensioners claimed free bus travel in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) England in each year since the concession's inception.

Norman Baker: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him to his identical question on 14 September 2011, Official Report, columns 1193-94W.

Bus Services: Concessions

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much her Department spent on concessionary bus travel for pensioners in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since the scheme was introduced.

Norman Baker: From 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2011, the Department for Transport provided Special Grant funding to local authorities to cover the extra costs of the England-wide statutory off-peak bus travel concession for older and disabled people, which was introduced on 1 April 2008. The Special Grant funding allocated to each travel concession authority (TCA) is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 TCA 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 Tyne and Wear (including Jarrow and South Tyneside) 5.375 5.502 5.670 
			 The North East 10.315 10.706 11.903 
			 England 212.0 217.0 221.0 
		
	
	Concessionary travel is a devolved issue so the Department does not hold information about the funding arrangements for travel concessions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
	In England, until 31 March 2011, the Department for Transport's Special Grant funded a portion of the statutory concession but the majority of funding was provided by the Department for Communities and Local Government through Formula Grant. The previous government decided that from 1 April 2011, all funding should be through Formula Grant.
	Formula Grant is a block grant which is not ring-fenced, so local authorities are free to spend it on any services, not just transport services, in order to meet their statutory obligations. It is not possible to identify how much Formula Grant has been allocated to a TCA for a particular service, such as concessionary travel.
	The Department for Transport also provided £31 million of grant to TCAs in England in 2007-08 for the cost of producing and issuing the England-wide bus passes to all those eligible, of which a total of £2.171 million went to local authorities in the North East—this includes Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority's allocation of £1.028 million.

Bus Services: Finance

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much in (a) capital and (b) revenue her Department will spend on (i) the Better Bus Fund, (ii) community transport and (iii) the Green Bus Fund in each year of the current spending review period.

Norman Baker: holding answer 27 February 2012
	Funds have been committed for 2011-12, as follows:
	(i) the Better Bus Areas Fund (£25 million Capital/£25 million Revenue);
	(ii) community transport (£10 million Revenue); and
	(iii) the Green Bus Fund (£20 million Capital).
	Decisions about the funding allocations for future years in the spend review period will be made at that appropriate time.

Departmental Senior Civil Servants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many senior civil servants left her Department and its public bodies in each month since May 2010; what their names are; what the rate of turnover of senior civil servants in her Department was during this period; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: Since May 2010 77 senior civil servants have left the central Department, its seven Executive agencies and its public bodies.
	The average rate of turnover of senior civil servants in the central Department, its seven Executive agencies and its public bodies was 37.25% during this period.
	The rate of turnover reflects the restructuring of the Department that took place for senior civil servants during 2010-11.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she took to ensure Transforming DVLA Services consultation complied with the code of practice on consultations.

Michael Penning: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 27 February 2012, Official Report, column 153W.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Enforcement

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of the revenue generated by Area Enforcement DVLA enforcement centres in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Penning: The information requested is not held in the format requested and would incur disproportionate costs to gather.

Electric Vehicles

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding has been allocated to the Plugged-in-Places programme for the purpose of the establishment of plug-in vehicle recharging infrastructure across the UK in each year of the comprehensive spending review period.

Norman Baker: holding answer 27 February 2012
	£30 million has been allocated to the Plugged-In Places programme from April 2010 to March 2013, nominally split into £10 million each financial year. The profile of spend is dependant on draw down of the available funds by the Plugged-In Places schemes.

Fuels: Excise duties

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on feebate schemes which provide a refund to buyers of new cars for purchasing low-emission vehicles funded by taxation on high-emission vehicles.

Norman Baker: DFT has not commissioned or evaluated any recent research on feebate schemes which provide a refund to buyers of new cars for purchasing low-emission vehicles funded by taxation on high-emission vehicles, this work would be the responsibility of HMT. The Government continue to support the uptake of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles through the provision of around £300 million to support customer incentives like the existing Plug-In Car Grant, which has recently been extended to include vans.

Large Goods Vehicles: Safety

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what impact assessment her Department carried out prior to plans for the trial of longer semi-trailers in respect of the potential effects on (a) cyclists and (b) other vulnerable road users; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Penning: The Department's revised Impact Assessment on the trial of longer semi-trailers took into account evidence submitted on the potential impact on vulnerable road users, including cyclists.

Large Goods Vehicles: Safety

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if she will consider commissioning research into the potential risks posed by longer semi-trailers to cyclists and other vulnerable road users; and if she will suspend the trial pending the outcome of that research.

Michael Penning: No. Thorough research has already been undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory on the risk to all road users, including cyclists. This indicates that there should be no detectable difference in safety between existing trailers and the proposed longer trailers.

Large Goods Vehicles: Safety

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many times the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport has met representatives from (a) cycling organisations, (b) haulage organisations and (c) motoring organisations since May 2010.

Michael Penning: My fellow parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker), and I have frequently met with representatives from such organisations.

Large Goods Vehicles: Safety

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the oral answer to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport of 15 September 2011, Official Report, column 1163, on heavy goods vehicles, if she will set out the evidential basis for his claim that, ‘We considered carefully whether longer semi-trailers posed a risk to cyclists in particular, and the risk is not there'; and if she will place a copy of any supporting evidence in the Library.

Michael Penning: The research report by the Transport Research Laboratory, TRL PPR526 (available on the Department for Transport website) concluded that:
	“Overall it is considered likely that the effects of the measures under consideration will be sufficiently small to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to identify them in a reliable post-hoc analysis after implementation or to have any measurable effect on the overall long-term downward trend in HGV accident involvement rates.”

Rescue Services: Air Force

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions fixed wing top cover search and rescue RAF aircraft were (a) requested by and (b) provided to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each of the last five years; and where each incident took place.

Michael Penning: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency will request, if required, that the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre at RAF Kinloss scramble the most appropriate aircraft for a search and rescue mission. The number of times a Nimrod has been scrambled in each of the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2007 21 
			 2008 29 
			 2009 13 
			 2010 3 
			 2011 0 
		
	
	This information is available on the Defence Analytical Services and Advice website
	www.dasa.mod.uk
	Details about the location of each of the incidents are available in the search and rescue annual reports, available at:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/applications/newWeb/www/index. php?page=67&pubType=0&thiscontent=1500&date=2012-02-22

Rescue Services: Contracts

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she plans that the bidders for the Long Term Search and Rescue Helicopter contract will be down selected.

Michael Penning: The down selection will take place very shortly. When it has taken place, details will be published on the DfT website.

Rescue Services: Contracts

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which companies bid for the Long Term Search and Rescue Helicopter contract; and which bidding lot or combination of bidding lots they bid for.

Michael Penning: A number of organisations have expressed an interest in this procurement competition. The DFT will release information on which organisations are to be invited to participate in the competitive dialogue phase when the result of the pre-qualification evaluation is announced.

Rescue Services: Contracts

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she plans that the (a) shortlisted bidder down selection, (b) final tender submission and (c) final contract award will be announced for the Long Term Search and Rescue Helicopter contract.

Michael Penning: The down selection will take place very shortly and a public announcement will be made at that time. The timetable for future stages of the procurement will be made clear to bidders when the Invitation to Participate in Dialogue documentation is issued, but I expect the final contract to be awarded early in 2013.

Rescue Services: Contracts

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason the contract length between bidding Lot 1 and Lot 2 in the Long Term Search and Rescue Helicopter contract is different.

Michael Penning: The contract lengths have been designed to ensure the contracts provide value for money to the taxpayer. These contracts are similar in length to other commercial helicopter contracts, for example in the oil and gas industry. They also ensure the large and small aircraft required under the different contracts retain a useful residual value after the contracts have expired, and prevent DFT from taking long term risks on salary forecasts for SAR personnel.

Rescue Services: Scotland

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of the (a) high risk, (b) very high risk and (c) medium risk cells within the Threshold Search and Operating Area are wholly in Scottish territorial waters.

Michael Penning: Cells are not designated territorially within the UK search and rescue region. I refer the hon. Member to page 10 of the UK Search and Rescue Helicopter Provision and Coverage Criteria Report 2001 (updated 2006), where the classification of each cell in the UK SAR region can be seen:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/anatec_2006_update_to_coverage_report.doc

Roads: Accidents

Aidan Burley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she is taking to reduce the length of time that roads are closed after accidents.

Michael Penning: Tackling the disruption caused by incidents on the road network is a key priority for this Government. As such, this Department is leading a joint initiative called CLEAR with the emergency services, Highways Agency and the Home Office to reduce the time taken to re-open motorways following an incident.
	As part of this initiative we published a review and action plan in May 2011. This action plan included a £3.14 million fund to assist police forces in purchasing 3D laser scanning technology to help speed up accident investigation and reduce the length of time that roads may need to be closed.
	On 29 December 2011 I announced the outcome of awards from this fund. A total of £2.7 million was awarded to 27 forces across the country, enabling 37 scanners to be purchased, which will start to be used from spring 2012.

Speed Limits

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she plans to take to encourage more widespread use of 20 mph limits in communities for the purposes of enabling safer walking and cycling; and whether she plans to issue revised guidance on setting local speed limits.

Norman Baker: holding answer 27 February 2012
	I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 12 January 2012, Official Report, column 314. Ministers plan to issue revised guidance on setting local speed limits later this year.

Transport: Expenditure

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2012, Official Report, column 39W, on transport: expenditure, what methodology was used to calculate the total identifiable expenditure figures in Table 6 and Table 7; and whether this methodology took account of the benefits of expenditure in one region for other regions.

Norman Baker: The tables referred to were compiled as a part of the Country and Regional Analysis carried out annually by HM Treasury across public authorities and for which HM Treasury publishes guidance
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/cra_guidance_annexb.pdf
	and
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/cra_guidance_annexc.pdf
	HM Treasury looks across a number of years on expenditure to decide whether a funding line is large enough to be allotted to reduce the reporting burden. Some items are considered non-identifiable. For example funding for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is usually considered to benefit the country as a whole and thus not identifiable.
	Departments are asked to consider who benefits from the expenditure. This is done where it is straight forward but for some transport areas this can be difficult. For example the benefit of expenditure on a stretch of a major motorway can be difficult to assign to regions. Where it is not possible to assign benefits to regions, allocation is usually done by examining where the money is spent.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Ministers: Official Residences

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Ministers in her Department have the use of grace and favour homes.

Damian Green: Home Office Ministers do not have the use of grace and favour homes.

Animal Welfare: Standards

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment her Department has made of the likely effects of transposing the EU Directive 2010/63/EU on animal welfare standards into UK law.

James Brokenshire: European Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes must to be transposed into United Kingdom legislation by 10 November 2012 and implemented from 1 January 2013. We currently aim to table regulations to transpose the provisions of the Directive in May 2012. An impact assessment of the options for transposition is being prepared and will consider the effects of the transposition options on animal welfare standards as well as other impacts. The impact assessment will be published in due course with the regulations.

Asylum

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers left the country (a) voluntarily and (b) through enforced deportation in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: Deportations are a specific subset of removals which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person's removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. The deportation order prohibits the person returning to the UK until such time as it may be revoked. Most illegal immigrants are removed under administrative or illegal entry powers from the UK rather than being deported.
	Central management systems cannot accurately identify the numbers of enforced removals from the UK, from the number of voluntary departures after enforcement action had been initiated.
	It is also not possible to identify the stage in the asylum process that the nationals of any country have reached at the time of their removal, including whether their claim has failed at that point and that they are failed asylum seekers, because those departing voluntarily can do so at any stage without notifying the UK Border Agency.
	The following table shows the total number of asylum cases removed (including those who have been deported) or departed voluntarily from the UK by type in each year from 2007 to 2011.
	
		
			 Removals and voluntary departures (1,) () (2)  of asylum cases, by type, January 2007 to December 2011 
			  Number of departures 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 (1) 2011 (3) 
			 Total asylum cases 13,705 12,874 11,636 10,394 8,869 
			 Of which:      
			 Enforced removals and notified voluntary departures(4,) ( ) (5) 8,761 7,848 6,897 6,656 6,384 
			 Assisted Voluntary Returns(6) 2,866 2,658 2,983 2,698 2,003 
			 Other voluntary departures(7) 2,078 2,368 1,756 1,040 482 
			 (1) Figures include dependants, (2) Removals and voluntary departures recorded on the system as of the dates on which the data extracts were taken. (3) Provisional figures. Figures will under record due to data cleansing and data matching exercises that take place after the extracts are taken. (4) Due to a reclassification of removal categories, figures include asylum removals performed by UK Border Agency Officers using in-country powers of removal and a small number of cases dealt with at juxtaposed controls. (5) Figures include people leaving under Facilitated Return Schemes. (6) People leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by Refugee Action (prior to April 2011, run by the International Organisation for Migration). May include some on-entry cases and some cases where enforcement action had been initiated. (7) People who it has been established left without informing the immigration authorities. 
		
	
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics within the Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics October to December 2011, published on 23 February 2012, is available from the Home Office Science, research and statistics web pages at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/
	and will be placed in the Library of the House.

Asylum

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of the number of legacy asylum cases that are archived due to lack of communication with the applicant.

Damian Green: As Rob Whiteman reported to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 22 December 2011; the number of cases placed in the controlled archive has reduced from an initial figure of 98,000 cases to 93,000 cases.

Biometrics

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has made an estimate of the number of people who have biometric data stored in the UK.

Damian Green: The Identity and Passport Service (IPS) does not keep records in the format requested. IPS holds biometric data in the form of facial photographs. These images are stored on file by IPS, printed in the passport book and, in newer passports, stored on the chip in the passport book. There are currently approximately 48.5 million UK passports in circulation. An exact figure cannot be given because lost and stolen passports may not be replaced immediately.

Civil Disorder

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she has any plans to require police authorities to record crimes relating to public disorder as rioting rather than as violent disorder for the purposes of enabling businesses to claim compensation.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 21 February 2012
	Under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886, police authorities are responsible for assessing individual claims made to them, including whether the activities that took place should be classed as a riot. This is based on the legal definition of a riot as set out in Section 1 of the Public Order Act 1986.

Civil Disorder

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if she will assess the practice of recording rioting as violent disorder by Nottingham Police Authority and Leicestershire Police Authority;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the practice by police authorities of recording rioting as violent disorder;
	(3)  whether she has any plans to take steps to improve consistency among police authorities in the recording of riot-related crime.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 21 February 2012
	The recording of all crimes, including riot, is governed by the Home Office Counting Rules (HOCR). In the case of Riot and Violent Disorder, which are offences under section 1 and 2 respectively of the 1986 Public Order Act, the HOCR require that police forces record such an offence when the crime is made out as laid down in that legislation. It is a matter for forces to assess each incident on a case by case basis and determine the appropriate recording decision.
	Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has recently completed an assessment of the quality of crime and incident data in all forces in England and Wales, which found that in the case of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire their data presented a fair picture. HMIC will carry out further such assessments in due course as part of their future work programme.

Criminal Records: EU Action

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department since what date the UK has been exchanging data with other EU member states under the terms of the Prüm decision of 2008.

James Brokenshire: The United Kingdom has not yet implemented the Prüm Council Decisions. The reasons for this were set out in my letter of 9 November 2011 to the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee. As the United Kingdom has not implemented the Prüm Decisions it has not exchanged any data with other EU member states under their terms.

Departmental ICT

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2012, Official Report, column 353W, on the internet, if her Department will make public any decision made to (a) enhance existing capabilities within law enforcement and (b) provide additional resources for new capabilities.

James Brokenshire: We will consider public announcements in due course, taking into account both public accountability and the need to protect the operational integrity of capabilities.

Departmental Pay

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which her Department is responsible are paid (i) £100,000 and (ii) £142,500 or more per annum.

Damian Green: In line with the coalition Government's commitment to greater transparency in the way public bodies deploy their resources, the Department is required to publish the names and salary information of its most senior civil servants on a six monthly basis. This information can be found on the Home Office website or at:
	www.data.gov.uk
	The names and salary information of all members of the senior civil service (SCS) in the Home Office, its Agencies and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary at Pay Band 2 level and above are disclosed there; all earn over £82,900, which is the minimum pay scale for directors.
	In addition, 12 members of the SCS in the Home Office and its Agencies at Pay Band 1 level receive a base annual salary of £100,000 or more.
	The names and salary information of senior staff in the Department's non-departmental public bodies can also be found on
	www.data.gov.uk

Departmental Training

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2012, Official Report, column 187W, on departmental training, where such information is recorded.

Damian Green: holding answer 23 February 2012
	Information on away days held by the Home Office is not collated centrally and this could be achieved only at disproportionate cost. Departmental training expenditure is recorded on the Home Office's internal accounting system.

Departmental Travel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has agreed any contracts with (a) private hire vehicle and (b) taxi companies since May 2010.

Damian Green: Since May 2010 the Home Department, including its executive agencies, has awarded (a) no contracts with private hire vehicle companies and (b)one contract with a value of £25,000 to a taxi company. The departments expenditure on taxis for the year 2010-11 was £487,000, previous years expenditure has been £920,000 in 2008-09 and £773,000 in 2009-10.

Deportation

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the compliance of G4S under its contract with the UK Border Agency with the guidance in the Ministry of Justice's 2010 Physical Control in Care training manual on the treatment of minors.

Damian Green: We take the welfare of children in our care very seriously and act in accordance with Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act, which requires ail UK Border Agency staff and contractors to carry out their functions with regard to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
	The UK Border Agency contract for escorting services is with Reliance Secure Task Management. The services were provided by G4S Care and Justice Services prior to May 2011.
	In order to exercise any use of restraint, detainee custody officers and escorts must be certified by the Secretary of State, a condition of which is that they have undergone training of techniques approved by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). Officers receive re-fresher training every 12 months. Any use of restraint must be justified, proportionate and for the shortest possible period to achieve the objective.
	Officers employed to escort children under the age of 18 are trained and certified to use the physical control in care (PCC) techniques and procedures contained in the NOMS PCC manual. The manual and training packages were written and accredited by NOMS and the training is delivered by approved PCC instructors. The techniques and the delivery of training are regularly reviewed and assessed by NOMS staff.
	Officers are required to complete a report of any use of PCC, which sets out why it was used and what occurred during the incident, including attempts to de-escalate the situation. The report should also reference the role of others in the team. Such reports are reviewed by a senior manager and are then passed to the UK Border Agency for review. It is open to either party to commission an investigation if there are questions as to whether the use of PCC was justified.

Detention Centres

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detainees have entered each immigration removal centre in each of the last five years; and how many detainees have been removed from the UK directly from each immigration removal centre in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The requested information is not available for all of the last five years.
	People entering detention, held solely under Immigration Act powers by initial place of detention have been published since 2009 and are available in table dt.03 (annual) and dt.03.q (quarterly), by country of nationality of Immigration Statistics July to September 2011 available from the Library of the House and the Home Office Science, Research and Statistics web pages at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/
	The following table shows people removed on leaving detention by last place of detention from 2007 to Q3 2011:
	
		
			 People removed on leaving detention by place of last detention and year 
			  2007 2008 2009 2010 Q1-Q3 2011 
			 Total 16,120 163312 16,093 25,959 12,256 
			 Immigration removal centres      
			 Brook House (1)— (1)— 1,439 3,025 1,603 
			 Campsfield House 1,386 1,594 957 1,900 881 
			 Colnbrook IRC 134 51 36 524 29 
			 Dover IRC 743 892 627 1,294 723 
			 Dungavel 277 264 198 636 78 
			 Harmondsworth 974 796 750 2,610 2,135 
			 Haslar 124 106 99 424 107 
			 Lindholme 66 40 27 296 35 
			 Oakington reception centre 2,183 1,778 1,487 2,982 (1)— 
			 Morton Hall (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 39 
			 Tinsley House 3,116 2,660 1,945 2,408 847 
			 Yarl's Wood 2,646 2,576 2,416 3,609 1,545 
			       
			 Short- term holding facilities      
			 Colnbrook Short Term 3,795 4,750 4,913 5,499 3,978 
			 Dover Harbour 229 507 645 276 (1)— 
			 Harwich (2)— 46 45 25 (1)— 
			 Lame House (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 45 
			 Pennine House 447 252 509 451 198 
			       
			 Pre-departure accommodation      
			 Cedars (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 13 
			 (1) Not applicable. (2) Not available. Notes: 1. Data from Q1 2010 onwards are provisional. 2. All people held are detained in the United Kingdom solely under Immigration Act powers and exclude those in police cells, Prison Service establishments, short-term holding rooms at ports and airports (for less than 24 hours), and those recorded as detained under both criminal and immigration powers and their dependants. 3. Relates to most recent period of sole detention. The period of detention starts when a person first enters the UK Border Agency estate. If the person is then moved from a removal centre to a police cell or Prison Service establishment, this period of stay will be included if the detention is solely under Immigration Act powers. 4. 2008: Pennine House (formerly named Manchester airport short-term holding facility which closed on 15 June 2008), reopened on 30 November 2008. 5. 2009: Brook House opened on 18 March 2009. 6. 2010: Dover Harbour closed on 31 July 2010. Oakington Reception Centre closed on 12 November 2010. Harwich short-term holding facility closed on 30 November 2010. Yarl's Wood closed to families with children on 16 December 2010. 7. 2011: Morton Hall opened on 16 May 2011. Larne House opened on 5 July 2011. Cedars opened on 17 August 2011 only for families deemed suitable by UK Border Agency, advised by the independent Family Returns Panel, for pre-departure accommodation. 
		
	
	The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the number of people entering and leaving detention, held solely under Immigration Act powers, within Immigration Statistics. October to December 2011 detention figures will be published on 23 February 2012 and will be available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, Research and Statistics web pages.

Forensic Science Service: Closures

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the survey of forensic scientists carried out by New Scientist, whether she plans to monitor any effects of the closure of the Forensic Science Service on the number of cases of miscarriage of justice.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 27 February 2012
	The closure process has ensured an orderly transition of the Forensic Science Service (FSS) services to alternative suppliers and has given suppliers time to develop additional capacity. There is no reason to believe that the closure of the FSS will lead to miscarriages of justice.

Forensic Science: Expenditure

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the likely level of expenditure by police forces on forensic services following the closure of the Forensic Science Service.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 27 February 2012
	The police are planning to reduce their spending on forensics over the next few years, as forces seek to maximise efficiencies in this area. At the end of 2010, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary estimated that the external market for forensic science services would reduce by around 35%, from £170 million in 2009 towards around £110 million by 2015. We are keeping this under review with key stakeholders, including ACPO. The Home Office does not compile details of internal police expenditure on forensics capability, as it is up to individual police authorities and chief constables to decide how best to spend their money.

Fraud: Crime Prevention

Simon Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions her Department has had with police forces on the level of resources for tackling financial crime and fraud.

James Brokenshire: Police authorities are responsible for setting the budget for their individual force in consultation with the chief constable.
	The development of the Economic Crime Command of the National Crime Agency will provide an opportunity to examine the enforcement response to financial crime and fraud with a view to improving that response, particularly through improved intelligence and collaborative working.

Fraud: International Cooperation

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of co-operation in the (a) investigation and (b) prosecution of fraud under the convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests there have been between the UK and other EU member states in the last five years; and what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the convention.

Mark Hoban: holding answer 27 February 2012
	I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	Co-operation between the UK authorities, other member states and the European Anti-fraud Office, OLAF, has been ongoing over the last five years. The Serious Fraud Office is currently handling two cases referred to it by OLAF, and assists with cases involving other member states as necessary.
	The Government believe the current instrument in conjunction with various forms of voluntary co-operation provides an adequate basis for tackling fraud against the EU Budget.

Illegal Immigrants: Northern Ireland

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who were detained for attempting to enter the UK illegally through ports and airports in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years were (a) deported and (b) allowed entry into the UK following their detention.

Damian Green: From 5 July to 30 September 2011, 110 persons entered Northern Ireland’s short term holding facility. 45 have been subsequently removed and none was granted leave to enter the UK.
	This information covers all the UK Border Agency persons in detention and not just Border Force cases seeking to enter the UK through ports and airports in Northern Ireland.
	The official published statistics on detention can be found in “Immigration Statistics: July to September 2011”, available from the Library or the Home Office website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-tabs-q3-2011/detention-q3-11-tabs

Internet: Organised Crime

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will consider the accuracy of the statements made by the Serious Organised Crime Agency in respect of rnbxclusive.com that (a) individuals behind the website had been arrested for fraud and (b) that the majority of files on the website were stolen from artists.

Nick Herbert: The statements made by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) are an operational matter. The Home Secretary is not directly involved in SOCA's operational matters, which are the responsibility of its director general.

Marriage of Convenience

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many planned sham marriages were detected and prevented in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency does not hold data on the number of planned sham marriages that were detected and prevented in each of the last five years.

Production Orders: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 20 February 2012, Official Report, column 517W, on production orders: Wales, and the answer to the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington of 30 January 2012, Official Report, column 403W, on police: court orders, for what reason such information is not collected centrally; and whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of production orders issued in (a) the UK and (b) Wales in the last five years.

Nick Herbert: The information requested is not provided by police forces because it does not form part of the Annual Data Requirement (ADR) which the Home Office makes of police forces. The ADR is considered carefully with a view to reducing the bureaucratic burden on police forces and, as an operational matter which is subject to judicial oversight, we do not see the need to collect this information.
	Because the data are not collected centrally, no reasonable estimate of the number of production orders issued can be made.

Public Sector: Internet

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public services her Department delivers online only.

Damian Green: Many of the Home Office's services can be accessed digitally. However, the Home Office does not currently deliver public services online exclusively, with most of our public websites having a paper based application process to support the online service.
	Plans are in place to move substantially more of our service delivery online, and consideration is being given as to where it would be appropriate for services to be delivered exclusively online.
	Some examples of Home Office plans to move service delivery increasingly online include:
	UK Border Agency (UKBA)
	Immigration Case Work (ICW) is in the process of moving the visa application process online. The UKBA is moving towards an online business model.
	Identity and Passport Service (IPS)
	There is already online certificate ordering from IPS/General Registrars Office (GRO). Currently about 95% of certificates are ordered online although this is supported by a paper-based service.
	Development of online passport application will move the process of form completion and payment online—although existing paper based channels will remain.

Terrorism: Racial Incitement

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to protect the public from (a) terrorism and (b) race hatred.

James Brokenshire: The Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism within the Home Office is responsible for delivering the UK's counter-terrorism strategy (Contest), which was presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for the Home Department in July 2011.
	The aim of the strategy is to reduce the risk to the UK and UK interests overseas from terrorism so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence.
	The four work streams of Contest are:
	Pursue: to stop terrorist attacks;
	Prevent: to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism;
	Protect: to strengthen our protection against terrorist attack; and
	Prepare: to mitigate the impact of a terrorist impact.
	The strategy covers all forms of terrorism, including the threat to Great Britain from Northern Ireland-related terrorism and extreme right-wing terrorism, while focusing on those which pose the biggest risk to UK interests.
	A copy of the strategy is available in the House Library and it can be downloaded at:
	www.official-documents.gov.uk
	and also at:
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/counter-terrorism/
	The Government are committed to ensuring that everyone has the freedom to live their lives free from fear of targeted hostility or harassment on the grounds of a particular characteristic, and is taking action to ensure that the criminal justice services and partners locally are equipped to prevent and tackle such targeted hostility.
	We are working collaboratively across Government to develop a new hate crime action plan and aim to publish it later this year. We will also work proactively with our Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime, many members of which have been victims of hate crime themselves, taking account of the group's views on the issues that need to be addressed.
	We are clear that criminal justice agencies must provide a consistently high standard of service to all victims of hate crime, irrespective of their backgrounds and needs.

Third Sector

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to implement the principles of the Best Value Statutory Guidance in respect of (a) giving at least three months' notice to voluntary and community organisations and their service users when reducing or ending funding, (b) engaging with voluntary and community organisations and service users as early as possible before making a decision on the future of the service, any knock-on effects on assets used to provide this service and the wider impact on the local community and (c) making provision for voluntary and community organisations and service users to put forward options on how to reshape the service or project.

James Brokenshire: The Best Value Statutory Guidance was published to advise local authorities in their financial relationships with voluntary sector organisations. The Home Office is not a 'Best Value Authority' under the definition of the guidance and is therefore not required to adhere to the guidance. However, the Home Office does adhere to the principles of the Compact in its relationships with voluntary sector organisations, as follows:
	(a) The Home Office advises voluntary sector organisations of funding on an annual basis and advises the organisations that further funding cannot be guaranteed the following financial year. The organisations are therefore given several months' notice that funding may be reduced or cut. The Home Office supports the organisations to find alternative sources of funding.
	(b) The Home Office engages with the voluntary sector organisations it funds throughout the year and requires them to provide evidence that they are providing value for money and achieving mutually agreed objectives in line with the Department's business.
	(c) The Home Office involves the voluntary sector in policy development from the earliest stages through the regular VCS Stakeholder Forum and other meetings at which policy development is discussed with the sector.

UK Border Agency: Manpower

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency staff were operating at (a) Heathrow airport and (b) Calais on 18 and 19 February 2012.

Damian Green: For operational and security reasons the UK Border Force only publishes resource data at a regional level.

UK Border Agency: Passengers

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many passengers were processed by the UK Border Agency at (a) each Heathrow airport terminal and (b) Calais on 18 and 19 February 2012.

Damian Green: Statistics relating to the total number of passengers entering the UK are published quarterly in table 'ad.01' of the Home Office statistical release 'Immigration Statistics'. The latest publication covering data up to and including the fourth quarter (October to December) 2011 is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q4-2011
	The next release of the Immigration Statistics covering the period January to March 2012 will be published on 24 May 2012.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Devolution: Energy

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what discussions were held at the Joint Ministerial Council of 20 February 2012 on (a) the devolution of energy matters to the National Assembly for Wales and (b) the formation of a constitutional convention for the United Kingdom.

Nicholas Clegg: At the meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee (Domestic sub-committee) on 20 February, Ministers from the four Administrations held a wide-ranging discussion on energy policy, with a particular focus on electricity market reform.
	The Government are clear that any changes to the devolution settlement in Wales, including on energy, should be considered in light of the recommendations of the Silk Commission which is currently reviewing financial and constitutional arrangements in Wales.
	Constitutional issues were not on the agenda for this meeting.

CABINET OFFICE

Adam Werritty

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2012, Official Report, column 73W, on Adam Werritty, for what reasons the meetings on (a) 8 September 2009 and (b) 16 June 2010 were not referred to in the Cabinet Secretary's report on the conduct of the right hon. Member for North Somerset.

Francis Maude: These meetings fell outside the terms of reference of the Cabinet Secretary's report, which concerned the former Defence Secretary's conduct as a Minister in the context of the Ministerial Code.

Departmental Internet

Helen Goodman: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what public services his Department delivers online only.

Francis Maude: The Cabinet Office is responsible for Directgov which provides access to online departmental services.

Departmental Senior Civil Servants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many senior civil servants left his Department and its public bodies in each month since May 2010; what their names are; what the rate of turnover of senior civil servants in his Department was during this period; and if he will make a statement.

Francis Maude: The average turnover of senior civil servant (SCS) staff in my Department and its public bodies has remained stable since before May 2010 and is down from a peak turnover of 34% 2007-08. The average rate of turnover for 2010-11 and 2011-12 (to date) is 25%.
	The nature of much of the work in the Cabinet Office means that there is a high requirement for expertise to be brought in, including as loan-ins from other Departments, in order to work on changing priorities. Nearly 40% of the senior civil servants who left the Department moved elsewhere within Government.
	The following table outlines the number of senior civil servants who left my Department and its public bodies in each month since May 2010.
	
		
			  Number 
			 2010  
			 May 4 
			 June 5 
			 July 4 
			 August 5 
			 September 1 
		
	
	
		
			 October 2 
			 November 3 
			 December 10 
			   
			 2011  
			 January 2 
			 February 1 
			 March 10 
			 April 7 
			 May 7 
			 June 6 
			 July 6 
			 August 5 
			 September 3 
			 October 6 
			 November 6 
			 December 4 
			   
			 2012  
			 January 7

Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether his Department measures optimism in society.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated February 2012
	As Director-General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether his Department measures optimism in society (96838).
	On 1 December 2011, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published a research report entitled “Initial investigation into Subjective Well-being from the Opinions Survey” which is available from the following web link:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/wellbeing/measuring-subjective-wellbeing-in-the-uk/investigation-of-subjective-well-being-data-from-the-ons-opinions-survey/initial-investigation-into-subjective-well-being-from-the-opinions-survey.html
	This report provides initial experimental estimates from the ONS Opinions Survey of how optimistic adults (aged 16 and over) in Great Britain were about the next 12 months and 5 years. Table 1 attached provides estimates of average levels of optimism and the percentages of adults who gave different ratings on a 0 to 10 scale where 0 was “not at all optimistic” and 10 was “completely optimistic”.
	
		
			 Table 1: Distribution and average (mean) ratings for optimism about the future (1, 2) : Great Britain 
			 Percentages 
			 June 2011   
			 Ratings Optimism about the next five years (3) Optimism about the next 12 months (4) 
			 0 1.3 2.2 
			 1 1.9 0.6 
			 2 2.0 1.6 
			 3 4.1 2.5 
			 4 3.4 3.5 
			 5 12.1 9.0 
			 6 10.5 8.1 
			 7 20.4 15.5 
			 8 22.7 24.9 
		
	
	
		
			 9 10.7 16.4 
			 10 10.8 15.6 
			 Mean 6.8 7.3 
			 (1) Adults aged 16 and over. (2 )Respondents are asked to provide an answer from 0 (‘not at all optimistic’) to 10 (‘completely optimistic’) for each question. (3 )Overall, how optimistic do you feel about the next five years? (4 )Overall, how optimistic do you feel about the next 12 months? Source: June 2011 Opinions Survey, ONS.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Action for Employment

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what contracts his Department has with A4e; and what the (a) purpose and (b) monetary value is of each such contract.

Chris Grayling: The Department has the following current contracts with A4e.
	
		
			 Programme Contract package area Area covered Contract No. Estimated annual value (£) 
			 Work programme 2 East Midlands WP/CPA02/A4E (1)— 
			 Work programme 4 East London WP/CPA04/A4E (1)— 
			 Work programme 6 Merseyside, Halton, Cumbria, Lancashire WP/CPA06/A4E (1)— 
			 Work programme 9 Thames Valley, Hampshire and IoW WP/CPA09/A4E (1)— 
			 Work programme 17 South Yorkshire WP/CPA17/A4E (1)— 
			 JCPSC 2 Black Country JCPSC/CPA02/09 1,013,917 
			 JCPSC 10 North and Mid Wales and South East Wales JCPSC/CPA10/09 870,286 
			 JCPSC 12 South Yorkshire and Derbyshire JCPSC/CPA12/09 1,335,297 
			 JCPSC 16 Hants and IoW/Berks and Bucks/Oxon JCPSC/CPA16/09 1,398,934 
			 JCPSC 23 West Yorkshire JCPSC/CPA23/09 1,448,867 
			 JCPSC 24 London JCPSC/CPA24/09 5,674,478 
			 MWA 1 South East 01/01/MWA 664,003 
			 (1) Dependent on company performance 
		
	
	Work programme
	The Work programme is for individuals who are at risk of long-term unemployment and has been designed to help people with a wide variety of needs back into sustained employment. The programme provides individually tailored support and lasts for up to two years.
	Jobcentre Plus Support Contract
	This contract supports Jobcentre Plus advisers' efforts to help people back to work by delivering short courses aimed at improving employability. Examples include job search skills and motivational events.
	Mandatory Work Activity
	Mandatory Work Activity gives extra support to a small number of individuals who would benefit from a short period of work experience. It aims to help people refocus their job search and gain valuable work-related disciplines, such as attending on time and regularly, carrying out specific tasks and working under supervision.

Action for Employment

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers in his Department have had with representatives of A4e since 12 May 2010.

Chris Grayling: This Department has published on a quarterly basis since October 2009, details of all ministerial meetings with external organisations. The information you have requested can be found via the attached link to the Department's website.
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/corporate-publications/ministers-meetings-overseas.shtml
	Information for the period 1 July 2011 to 31 December 2011 has yet to be published.
	One of the Department's special advisers and a DWP official met Emma Harrison on 25 November 2010.

Action for Employment

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will suspend his Department's contracts with A4e until police investigations into allegations of fraud and any related criminal proceedings have been completed.

Chris Grayling: The Department treats allegations of fraud very seriously but cannot comment on the current investigations. Though these cases do not relate to A4e's current contracts including the Work Programme, rather contracts procured under the previous Administration, we have reminded A4e of their contractual obligations. If there is evidence of systemic fraud in either current or past contracts, we will not hesitate to terminate our commercial relationship with them.

Automated Service Delivery Project

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  for what reason his Department's automated service delivery project was suspended in January; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he expects his Department's automated service delivery project to go live.

Chris Grayling: The original plans for ASD were made prior to the decision to introduce universal credit. As universal credit will begin to replace income-based jobseeker's allowance from 2013 any further investment in jobseeker's allowance now demonstrates only a limited value for money.
	In January 2012 the Department began a review of the Automated Service Delivery (ASD) project's future costs, benefits, and strategic fit. The initial findings of that review recommended ASD be paused pending further analysis.
	The Department has now completed this further analysis and taken the responsible decision not to make further investment in the project.
	The decision does not affect the delivery of universal credit.

Employment and Support Allowance

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how regularly individuals in receipt of employment and support allowance are required to undergo reassessment to determine their continued entitlement to the benefit.

Chris Grayling: Claimants are assessed at the start of a claim to employment and support allowance to determine entitlement to the benefit. Further assessments will then be carried out over the duration of the claim to determine continued entitlement and whether a claimant should remain in the same group.
	The frequency of these repeat assessments will depend on the prognosis given by the health care professional at the previous assessment.
	It is important that claimants have regular assessments, so that we can ensure that they are receiving the support they need for their current capabilities and needs, we can determine whether the impact of their health condition or disability has improved or worsened, and can determine whether they have adapted to their condition.

Employment and Support Allowance

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of final decisions on entitlement to employment and support allowance differed from the original advice provided by Atos between (a) June 2009 and May 2010 and (b) June 2010 and May 2011.

Chris Grayling: Between June 2009 and May 2010 2% of final decisions on entitlement to employment and support allowance differed from the original advice provided by Atos. Between June 2010 and May 2011 6% of decisions differed. This increase is likely to reflect the implementation of Professor Harrington's first Independent review of the WCA.
	These proportions do not include clerical assessments where the Atos recommendation cannot be readily determined but the claimants subsequently received a decision from DWP.

Employment and Support Allowance

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in receipt of employment and support allowance (ESA) underwent reassessment less than (a) eight months and (b) one year from the date of the previous awarding of ESA in (i) the UK, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Edinburgh between (1) June 2009 and May 2010 and (b) June 2010 and May 2011.

Chris Grayling: This information is not available.

Employment and Support Allowance

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recipients of employment and support allowance were placed in the support group without having to attend an Atos assessment between (a) June 2009 and May 2010 and (b) June 2010 and May 2011.

Chris Grayling: The information requested is not available as it is not routinely collated by the Department.

Jobseeker's Allowance: New Enterprise Allowance

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the cost of allowing claimants of jobseeker's allowance to claim for the New Enterprise Allowance from (a) the first day, (b) the first month and (c) the third month.

Chris Grayling: A change in the entry point to the new enterprise allowance scheme would not impact on the cost of delivering the scheme because it is funded to deliver 40,000 places. However, it would potentially reduce opportunities for longer term jobseekers to participate in the scheme.

Jobseekers Allowance: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged 18 to 24 years in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for 13 weeks were still in receipt of the allowance after a further 13 weeks in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: Between January and March 2011, 164,000 people aged 18-24 passed through the 13 week point of their JSA claim between April and June. Of those 164,000, 104,000 were still in receipt of JSA after a further 13 weeks.
	Notes:
	1. Figures rounded to the nearest 1,000.
	2. Between weeks 13 and 26, some of the 104,000 people left jobseeker's allowance and returned to benefit.
	3. Comparisons with the benefit outcomes of participants in employment programmes cannot be made because individuals participating on the programmes will have a specific set of characteristics and claim durations.
	Source:
	National Benefits Database

New Deal Schemes

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of Flexible New Deal participants who were on the programme on 1 September 2011 were subsequently diverted from the programme.

Chris Grayling: Everyone on the flexible new deal on 1 September 2011 was referred back to Jobcentre Plus for a conversion interview. The conversion interview provided the claimant with information about the Work programme, including when they would qualify for entry to it and, in appropriate cases, the option to volunteer for early access.

Post Office Card Account

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the demographic profile of people with Post Office card accounts.

Steve Webb: No formal assessment has been made of the demographic profile of people with Post Office card accounts. The following tables provide a breakdown of accounts by age, gender and region.
	
		
			 Method of payment—Post Office card accounts by age, gender and region—October 2011 
			   Great Britain North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands 
			 All Female 2,063,800 131,330 296,590 205,480 146,730 216,820 
			  Male 1,493,400 106,100 229,780 151,530 103,260 154,080 
			         
			 Under 18 Female 7,860 480 1,150 740 500 890 
			  Male 17,240 1,010 2,510 1,490 1,150 1,910 
			         
			 18 to 24 Female 30,850 1,900 5,380 3,120 2,120 3,280 
			  Male 30,830 2,060 5,540 3,200 1,920 3,500 
			         
			 25 to 34 Female 80,930 5,330 13,200 7,820 5,040 8,460 
			  Male 77,730 5,010 12,930 8,080 4,940 8,480 
			         
			 35 to 44 Female 118,260 7,170 19,370 11,280 6,750 11,760 
			  Male 128,420 7,560 22,570 12,600 7,550 12,520 
			         
			 45 to 49 Female 77,870 4,850 12,500 7,040 4,510 7,510 
			  Male 85,800 5,300 14,940 7,850 5,060 7,930 
			         
			 50 to 54 Female 80,740 5,560 13,350 7,300 4,920 7,750 
			  Male 86,450 6,200 14,640 8,070 5,210 8,220 
			         
			 55 to 59 Female 84,680 5,980 14,160 7,810 5,280 8,390 
			  Male 88,890 6,720 14,750 8,740 5,380 8,620 
			         
			 60 to 64 Female 148,060 11,200 23,630 14,540 9,400 14,340 
			  Male 118,420 10,060 20,130 11,800 7,590 11,200 
		
	
	
		
			 65 to 69 Female 206,790 13,700 30,490 20,500 14,610 21,630 
			  Male 156,020 12,970 24,680 15,610 10,110 15,590 
			         
			 70 to 79 Female 586,480 39,380 82,600 60,410 43,000 62,350 
			  Male 391,900 29,710 56,850 41,380 28,720 41,680 
			         
			 80 to 89 Female 512,180 29,710 65,390 52,030 40,330 56,290 
			  Male 270,750 17,460 35,550 28,590 22,060 30,080 
			         
			 90 and over Female 129,100 6,070 15,380 12,900 10,280 14,180 
			  Male 40,950 2,030 4,690 4,130 3,560 4,360 
		
	
	
		
			   East of England London South East South West Wales Scotland 
			 All Female 145,960 184,340 173,100 161,950 171,380 230,130 
			  Male 94,040 136,860 110,300 108,030 126,900 172,530 
			         
			 Under 18 Female 500 930 680 530 630 820 
			  Male 1,130 2,110 1,720 1,200 1,390 1,600 
			         
			 18 to 24 Female 1,700 3,980 2,160 1,470 2,450 3,280 
			  Male 1,590 3,460 2,020 1,520 2,420 3,620 
			         
			 25 to 34 Female 4,480 11,090 5,540 4,260 6,300 9,410 
			  Male 3,900 9,460 4,840 4,240 5,860 10,010 
			         
			 35 to 44 Female 6,670 16,930 8,230 6,650 8,880 14,570 
			  Male 6,770 16,090 8,380 7,550 9,190 17,620 
			         
			 45 to 49 Female 4,260 11,030 5,450 4,620 6,190 9,910 
			  Male 4,510 11,910 5,700 5,360 6,240 10,990 
			         
			 50 to 54 Female 4,250 9,950 5,360 4,620 6,800 10,880 
			  Male 4,460 10,890 5,720 4,970 6,570 11,500 
			         
			 55 to 59 Female 4,510 9,490 5,470 4,780 7,540 11,290 
			  Male 4,490 10,180 6,040 5,210 7,190 11,580 
			         
			 60 to 64 Female 8,630 14,040 10,080 9,560 14,100 18,560 
			  Male 5,990 10,950 7,300 6,900 11,230 15,270 
			         
			 65 to 69 Female 13,510 16,650 15,880 16,430 19,600 23,790 
			  Male 8,620 13,840 10,080 10,550 15,230 18,740 
			         
			 70 to 79 Female 42,400 42,350 48,530 49,240 49,800 66,460 
			  Male 26,150 27,320 29,580 31,160 36,180 43,180 
			         
			 80 to 89 Female 43,190 37,910 50,460 46,860 39,490 50,540 
			  Male 22,470 17,620 24,350 24,980 22,410 25,200 
			         
			 90 and over Female 11,850 9,990 15,270 12,940 9,610 10,620 
		
	
	
		
			  Male 3,980 3,030 4,570 4,390 3,000 3,230 
			 Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals do not sum due to rounding. 2. Figures only relate to accounts live and in payment on the specified date. 3. Data does not include Northern Ireland. 4. Figures refer to payment accounts. Claimants with more than one account will be counted for each account. 5. Analysis includes the following DWP Benefits: Income Support (IS), Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Industrial Injuries (II), Attendance Allowance (AA), Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Carer’s Allowance (CA), State Pension (SP), Pension Credit (PC), Bereavement Benefit (BB), Incapacity Benefit (IB), Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) and Widows Benefit (WB). Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate, 100% data

Work Capability Assessments

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West of 18 January 2012, Official Report, column 845W, on work capability assessments, on what date he plans to publish part one of his Department's research into what happens to people found fit for work and those placed in work-related activity and support groups.

Chris Grayling: We are currently completing the quality assurance process for this report and expect to be able to publish it in due course.

HEALTH

Action for Employment

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contracts his Department has with A4e; and what the (a) purpose and (b) monetary value is of each such contract.

Simon Burns: The Department's central procurement system holds no records of contracts with Action for Employment Ltd.

Allergies: Children

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made on the availability to GPs of guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of allergies in children; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: All general practitioners (GPs) will be familiar with the symptoms of the common allergic conditions in children. Guidance on specific conditions is available from a range of sources accessible to GPs, including National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the Map of Medicine, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of General Practitioners, and the web resources ‘Patient UK’ and ‘Clinical Knowledge Summaries’. Children with complex allergies should be referred to secondary or tertiary specialist clinics according to local clinical pathways.

Allergies: Children

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research his Department has commissioned into the (a) incidence, (b) causes, (c) treatment and (d) prevention of allergies in children.

Paul Burstow: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds a wide range of research on the incidence, causes, treatment and prevention of allergic conditions in children.
	From April 2012, the NIHR biomedical research centre at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London will have a research theme on environment, respiratory health and allergy. Details of the centre's research themes from April 2012 can be found at:
	www.biomedicalresearchcentre.org/AboutUs/TheNewBRC.aspx
	Research currently funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme includes a project on allergen immunotherapy in adults and children with severe hay fever. Details of this project can be found on the HTA programme website at:
	www.hta.ac.uk/project/2282.asp
	Research currently hosted by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) includes a birth cohort study investigating the development of asthma and allergic disease, and a study on understanding childhood infection, inflammation and allergy. Details of these studies can be found on the UK CRN portfolio database at:
	http://public.ukcrn.org.uk/Search/StudyDetail.aspx?StudyID=6616
	and
	http://public.ukcrn.org.uk/Search/StudyDetail.aspx?StudyID=8209

Anaemia: Health Services

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to improve the frequency of testing and treatment of pernicious anaemia.

Paul Burstow: Although pernicious anaemia is a relatively rare condition, all general practitioners (GPs) should be familiar with the symptoms of anaemia and alert to the possibility that this is due to vitamin B12 deficiency. Guidance on the testing and treatment of pernicious anaemia is available from sources readily accessible to GPs and other clinicians, including “Clinical Knowledge Summaries” and “Patient UK”.

Brain: Injuries

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to address the disparity between members of the armed forces and civilian patients who sustain head injury in arrangements for routine screening for post-traumatic hypopituitarism.

Paul Burstow: It is the responsibility of those health professionals involved in treating patients with head injuries to decide on whether to screen for post-traumatic hypopituitarism.

Cancer: Drugs

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the £200 million allocated to the Cancer Drugs Fund has been spent in (a) total and (b) each cancer network; and as a result of this spending (i) what indications have been treated and (ii) how many patients have been treated.

Paul Burstow: The Cancer Drugs Fund of £600 million over three years was launched on 1 April 2011 to help thousands of cancer patients access the drugs their clinicians believe will help them. We made an additional £50 million available to strategic health authorities (SHAs) in 2010-11 to support improved access to cancer drugs.
	SHAs have reported that between October 2010 and the end of January 2012, funding allocated so far has helped 11,871 cancer patients in England access the cancer drugs their clinicians recommended.
	In 2011-12, reported spend to end January 2012 against the Cancer Drugs Fund is £71 million. Levels of current activity are likely to be higher than these figures suggest, due to the gap between treatment being provided and payment being invoiced and processed.
	Information at cancer network level is not collected centrally, nor is information on the indications treated.

Cancer: Health Services

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) treatments and (b) therapies have been appraised by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence for (i) advanced breast cancer and (ii) advanced prostate cancer; and of all such treatments and therapies how many have been approved in each case since 1999.

Paul Burstow: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published final technology appraisal guidance on a number of treatments for advanced and/or metastatic breast and prostate cancer. Details of NICE's recommendations are shown in the tables.
	
		
			 NICE technology appraisals (TAs): breast cancer 
			 TA number Drug and indication Recommendation (1) Publication date Notes 
			 TA30 Docetaxel in combination with an anthracycline in first-line treatment of advanced breast cancer Not recommended September 2001 Guidance has been incorporated in Clinical guideline 81 
			 TA30 Docetaxel for the treatment of advanced breast cancer where initial cytotoxic chemotherapy (including an anthracycline) has failed or is inappropriate Recommended September 2001 Guidance has been incorporated in Clinical guideline 81 
			 TA30 Paclitaxel for the treatment of advanced breast cancer where initial cytotoxic chemotherapy (including, an anthracycline) has failed or is inappropriate Recommended September 2001 Guidance has been incorporated in Clinical guideline 81 
			 TA34 Trastuzumab in combination with paclitaxel for the treatment of advanced breast cancer Recommended March 2002  
			 TA34 Trastuzumab monotherapy for the treatment of advanced breast cancer Recommended March 2002  
			 TA54 Vinorelbine monotherapy for advanced breast cancer Recommended December 2002 Guidance has been incorporated in Clinical guideline 81 
			 TA54 Vinorelbine combination therapies for advanced breast cancer Not recommended December 2002 Guidance has been incorporated in Clinical guideline 81 
			 TA62 Capecitabine for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer Recommended May 2003 Guidance has been incorporated in Clinical guideline 81 
			 TA62 Capecitabine plus docetaxel for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic, breast cancer Recommended May 2003 Guidance has been incorporated In Clinical guideline 81 
			 TA116 Gemcitabine in combination with paclitaxel for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer Recommended January 2007  
			 TA214 Bevacizumab in combination with a taxane for the first-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer Not recommended February 2011  
			 TA239 Fulvestrant for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer in postmenopausal women whose cancer has progressed after anti-oestrogen therapy Not recommended December 2011  
		
	
	
		
			 NICE TAs: prostate cancer 
			 TA Drug and indication Recommendation (1) Publication date 
			 TA101 Docetaxel for men with hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer Recommended June 2006 
			 (1 )Where a treatment is "recommended", it is recommended in line with the marketing authorisation or in line with clinical practice.

Chiropody

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many podiatrists were employed by each primary care trust in 2011; and what the ratio of such podiatrists per head of population was.

Simon Burns: Information on the number of podiatrists employed in 2011 will be available on 21 March 2012, following publication of the NHS Information Centre Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) annual work force census.
	The monthly publication of the HCHS work force numbers does not provide this level of detail.
	A table giving the number of podiatrists by primary care trust and per 100,000 of the population as at 30 September 2010, the latest data available, has been placed in the Library.

Dental Services: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists were operating in Shrewsbury in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011.

Simon Burns: Numbers of national health service dentists in the years between 31 March 1997 and 31 March 2006 are shown in Annex E and Annex G of the ‘NHS, Dental Activity and Workforce Report, England: 31 March 2006’. A copy of this document has been placed in the Library.
	Numbers of dentists active in the NHS in 2010 and 2011 are not available in the format requested. Numbers of dentists active in the NHS in years ending 31 March 2007 to 31 March 2011 by strategic health authority and primary care trust are shown in Table H1 of Annex 3 of the ‘NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2010/11’ report. This document has already been placed in the Library.

Departmental ICT

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much his Department has spent on enterprise resource planning systems in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Simon Burns: The Department makes use of an enterprise resource planning system, (ERP) based upon Oracle Financials. This is named the Business Management System.
	The running cost per annum of this service is as follows:
	Hardware support and maintenance: £200,000
	Application maintenance and support: £1,090,000
	Licence costs for Oracle software: £104,000
	Total cost of operating the ERP service: £1,394,000.

Departmental Pay

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on payment to private companies in lieu of salary and how many (a) payroll staff and (b) non-payroll staff, including consultants and contractors of (i) his Department, (ii) its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies and (iii) each individual NHS trust are paid by means of payments to a limited company in lieu of salary; what the amount paid into private companies is since May 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), has announced an urgent review of the tax arrangements of senior public sector appointments, to report by the end of March 2012. As part of this, the Department is currently carrying out a major data gathering exercise which includes its executive agency, non-departmental public bodies and the national health service in order to determine the contracting arrangements of senior appointees. This exercise is expected to be completed by mid-March.
	The Department makes payments to private companies where this approach reflects a business need, to secure specific skills and experience through commercial means in the short to medium term to support the Department in delivering its policies.

Drugs: Misuse

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  with reference to his proposed healthcare reforms, whether he proposes that there will be a mandatory duty on (a) Public Health England, (b) local authorities, (c) elected crime commissioners and (d) GP commissioning groups to fund and provide services for those misusing drugs and alcohol;
	(2)  what plans he has for spending on drug and alcohol treatment when the national Pooled Treatment Budget ends in April 2013;
	(3)  what steps he plans to take to ensure that there is sufficient investment in drug and alcohol treatment services to deliver the Drug Strategy 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: Subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill 2011 local authorities will have a new duty to take appropriate steps to improve the health of the people in their areas and the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), will have the power to take appropriate steps to improve the health of the people of England. Local authorities will be responsible for commissioning treatment for dependence on drug and alcohol from April 2013, and will receive funding through a ring-fenced Public Health Grant. The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation has been asked to develop a formula for the allocation of the public health grant to local authorities. We intend to maintain incentive payments for drug treatment based on those currently used in the allocation of the Pooled Treatment Budget.
	Local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will be required to undertake Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) through health and wellbeing boards to understand the health and care needs of the whole local population. Based on this health and wellbeing boards will develop and agree joint health and wellbeing strategies, identifying priorities to be addressed across the local system. CCG and local authority commissioning plans will be underpinned by JSNAs and joint health and wellbeing strategies so that local services meet the identified needs. Health and wellbeing boards will promote joined up commissioning that will support integrated provision of services across health, public health and social care. The Public Health Outcomes Framework published on 23 January 2012 includes indicators on successful completion of drug treatment and alcohol related admissions as well as a number of related indicators including reoffending.

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential costs and benefits of the UK's participation in the World Health Organisation prevalence study into foetal alcohol spectrum disorders;
	(2)  what cost benefit analysis his Department has undertaken in respect of UK participation in the global World Health Authority prevalence study into foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Simon Burns: We are aware that the World Health Organisation plans to undertake a prevalence study into foetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The United Kingdom has not been invited to participate in the study. We look forward to the findings from the study into foetal alcohol spectrum disorders in due course.

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of (a) the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders and (b) any difference in approach to diagnosing such conditions between the UK and other countries.

Simon Burns: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Anne Milton), on 20 January 2012, Official Report, columns 1006-07W, in respect of work commissioned by the Department on research gaps around the prevalence of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
	The National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit’s review of the evidence of foetal effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, published in 2006 as ‘Review of the Fetal Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure’, considered evidence from other countries and the international research evidence base.

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason foetal alcohol spectrum disorders is not a recognised condition in the UK.

Paul Burstow: Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder is a term used to describe a range of disorders and disabilities associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. It is not generally regarded as a single condition, but as an umbrella term that covers several alcohol-related medical conditions.

Freedom of Information

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department worked on requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each of the last five years; how many (i) non-legal and (ii) legal staff hours have been spent on requests EA/2011/0286 and 0287; and how many hours of external legal advice have been spent on those requests;
	(2)  what his Department's total legal costs were associated with requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 including (a) legal costs associated with the cases EA/2011/0286 and 0287 and (b) cases appealed to upper tribunal in each of the last five years.

Simon Burns: All staff across the whole of the Department can expect to work on Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, as part of their overall duties as civil servants. No record is held of how many full-time equivalent (FTE) staff have worked on FOI requests in each of the last five years.
	However, the Department has a central FOI team whose job it is to handle and process FOI requests submitted to the Department. FTE staff numbers in the FOI team, are contained in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year Number (FTEs) 
			 2006-07 8.2 
			 2007-08 7.2 
			 2008-09 (1)6.4 
			 2009-10 (2)10 
			 2010-11 (3)9.6 
			 (1 )8.4 from June 2008. (2 )11 from October 2009. (3 )As at 8 July, (10.6 as at 18 March). 
		
	
	No record is maintained of how many non-legal staff hours have been spent on requests EA/2011/0286 and 0287.
	As regards to the hours and costs of legal work associated with FOI requests, the Department receives legal services through a block Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Government lawyers working on FOI requests do so under the block SLA without costs being apportioned to the Department for those requests.
	With regard to the cases EA/2011/0286 and 0287, up to 27 February 2012, 116.6 hours have been recorded for the time of litigation lawyers. This time will not, though, be charged to the Department, as it will be covered by the block SLA.
	To date, the number of hours worked by external Counsel on requests EA/2011/0286 and 0287, is 172 hours and the amount billed to the Department is £24,630 (including VAT). It is estimated that approximately another 125 hours will be spent by external Counsel on preparing for the two-day hearing and at the hearing itself—with the total external legal costs of the cases thus estimated to be just over £40,000 (including VAT).
	Information about legal costs associated with FOI requests for cases appealed to the upper tribunal in each of the last five years is not readily available. However, it is currently being collated by officials and I will write to the right hon. Member with the information and place a copy of my letter in the Library.

General Practitioners: Digital Technology

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage consultations with doctors to be provided via Skype to enable patients to avoid waiting to see a doctor.

Simon Burns: Responses to the Government's consultation “Liberating the NHS: An Information Revolution” highlighted the potential for digital technologies to improve the way that care is delivered. Skype is one example of how such improvement can be effected but its deployment would be a local, rather than central, decision. The forthcoming information strategy for health and care in England will include discussion of opportunities to incentivise the use of digital technologies—such as telehealth and online meetings and consultations—to improve care and outcomes.
	On this theme, the Department recently launched "3millionlives"—a new way of working collaboratively with industry, national health service and social care organisations to improve the lives of 3 million people through the integrated use of telehealth and telecare technologies where appropriate.

Hospital Beds

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS beds are available for those receiving treatment for drug and alcohol problems.

Simon Burns: These data are not collected centrally.

Influenza: Vaccination

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doses of Pandemrix were purchased by his Department in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010.

Simon Burns: As part of the response to the H1N1 (2009) influenza pandemic, 34,838,500 doses of Pandemrix were purchased in 2009-10. No further orders were placed in 2010-11.

Influenza: Vaccination

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for remaining stocks of Pandemrix.

Simon Burns: The Department has no remaining stocks of the Pandemrix vaccine. All stocks expired in October 2011.

Influenza: Vaccination

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many doses of Pandemrix were dispensed in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010.

Simon Burns: It is estimated that 5.9 million doses of Pandemrix were administered from October 2009 to March 2010 in response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
	Pandemrix was also used during the latter stages of the 2010-11 seasonal flu programme. It is estimated that about 170,000 doses of Pandemrix were administered from September 2010 to February 2011.
	All figures relate to England.

Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation

Simon Reevell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will place in the Library details of the (a) use of societal data and (b) economic models used by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in assessing the cost-effectiveness of vaccines.

Simon Burns: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) follows the methodology and criteria developed and used by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to assess the cost-effectiveness of health interventions. The NICE methodology considers cost-effectiveness from the point of generating the greatest level of health, measured by generally accepted indicators, with the resources available to the national health service. Wider, non-health societal costs and benefits are not generally included. The JCVI does not, therefore, consider general societal data when considering the cost-effectiveness of vaccination programmes.
	As with all information considered by the Committee, including economic models, details of the source publications are provided in the meeting papers, minutes and/or statements available on the JCVI website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/ab/jcvi/index.htm
	Some economic models considered by the Committee have yet to be published and have been provided by the authors in confidence. In these cases details about who conducted the studies is given.
	The recent JCVI statements on influenza, pneumococcal, respiratory syncytial virus, varicella and herpes zoster, rotavirus and human papillomavirus immunisations that set out the Committee's recommendations and that provide details about the economic models considered have been placed in the Library.

Macular Degeneration: Waiting Lists

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that waiting times for (a) macular degeneration and (b) other eye problems are reduced in Shropshire.

Simon Burns: Departmental figures for December 2011 show that referral to treatment and diagnostic test waiting times are low and stable. 93.2% of admitted patients and 96.9% of non-admitted patients began treatment within 18 weeks.
	‘The Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2012/13’ confirms that the operational standards of 90% for admitted and 95% for non-admitted patients, as set out in the NHS constitution will remain in place. It is for the national health service locally to decide how, when and where services are provided. The Department will continue to publish and monitor hospital waiting times. General practitioners and commissioners of health services will use this information locally to ensure that they can continue to improve access to services for their patients by addressing any clinically unjustified waits.

NHS Commissioning Boards: Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people he expects to be directly employed by the proposed NHS Commissioning Boards in the Hull area.

Simon Burns: Recommendations for the organisational design of the NHS Commissioning Board were ratified at the NHS Commissioning Board Authority board meeting on 2 February 2012. This paper has been placed in the Library, and is available on the Commissioning Board Authority website at:
	www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/2012/01/26/board-meeting-020212/
	The recommendations make a planning assumption that the board will employ around 3,560 people across England with 2,500 in local offices, 200 at sector level and 860 at the centre. Work will now be undertaken through the strategic health authorities, primary care trust clusters and aspirant clinical commissioning groups to confirm the locations of the 50 local offices and commissioning support units.

NHS: Redundancy

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many redundancies there were in the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust as a result of the implementation of NHS reforms in financial year 2010-11; how many he expects there to be in financial year (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14; and what resources he plans to transfer to Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust to cover the cost of his proposed NHS reorganisation;
	(2)  how many redundancies there were in the Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust as a result of the implementation of NHS reforms in financial year 2010-11; how many he expects there to be in financial year (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14; and what resources he plans to transfer to Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust to cover the cost of his proposed NHS reorganisation.

Simon Burns: Estimates of the number of staff voluntary and compulsory redundancies in both 2010-11 and the latest period available, for the organisations named, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  2010-11 April 2011 to September 2011 
			  Compulsory Voluntary Compulsory Voluntary 
			 Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 
			 Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust 0 63 1 7 
			 Source: Electronic Staff Record Data Warehouse 
		
	
	Responsibility for determining the level of workforce required to ensure the delivery of high quality care is a matter for the local national health service.
	We recognised in the White Paper “Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS” that, as a result of the record national debt and lower spending growth available to the NHS in the coming years, the service will employ fewer staff at the end of this Parliament, although rebalanced towards clinical staffing and frontline support rather than excessive administration.
	Revenue allocations are made to primary care trusts (PCTs). These allocations are not broken down by service or policy area. It is for PCTs to decide how their resources are allocated to meet the health care needs of their local populations, in line with local and national priorities.

NHS: Redundancy

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what information his Department holds on the number of staff that have been made redundant by Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust since April 2010; what the average cost per staff member was of such redundancies to each primary care trust; how many such redundancies involved an individual redundancy payment of over £40,000; and what the cost to the public purse has been of such redundancies since April 2010;
	(2)  what information his Department holds on the number of staff that have been made redundant by Humber NHS Foundation Trust since April 2010; what the average cost per staff member was of such redundancies to each primary care trust; how many such redundancies involved an individual redundancy payment of over £40,000; and what the cost to the public purse has been of such redundancies since April 2010;
	(3)  what information his Department holds on the number of staff that have been made redundant by Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust since April 2010; what the average cost per staff member was of such redundancies; how many such redundancies involved an individual redundancy payment of over £40,000; and what the cost to the public purse was of such redundancies.

Simon Burns: Information on the number, total cost and average cost of exit packages, and the number and cost of exit packages over £40,000 for Hull Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) and the Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, in 2010-11, is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Total number of exit packages Total cost of exit packages Average cost of packages Total number of exit packages over £40,000 Total cost of exit packages over £40,000 
			  Number £000 £000 Number £000 
			 Hull PCT 79 3,795 48 35 3,127 
			 Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Notes: 1. This information is not collected centrally for foundation trusts. 2. Data are taken from the audited summarisation schedules of PCTs and national health service trusts, from which the NHS (England) Summarised Accounts are prepared. The disclosure in the accounts reports the number and value of exit packages taken by staff leaving in the year. 3. Exit packages include compulsory redundancies and other departures. The latter includes the cost of both early retirements (excluding those relating to ill health) and voluntary redundancies. It is not possible to separately identify the value of either of these costs from the data collected. An overall figure for redundancies is therefore not identifiable. 4. Figures for the 2011-12 financial year will be available in the summer, once the Department's Annual Report and Accounts are laid before Parliament. 5. The expense associated with these departures may have been recognised in part or in full in a previous period. Source: Audited summarisation schedules of PCTs and NHS trusts

NHS: Rural Areas

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for future funding of the NHS in rural areas; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: Subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill, from 2013-14 the NHS Commissioning Board would be responsible for the allocation of resources to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The Board would allocate resources to CCGs in a way that supports the principle of securing equivalent access to NHS services relative to the prospective burden of disease and disability. In addition, from 2013-14, the Department of Health will allocate a ring-fenced public health grant to local authorities (LAs), for their new public health responsibilities.
	The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA), an independent committee comprising general practitioners, academics, public health experts and NHS managers, has been asked to continue to oversee the formulae for the distribution of NHS resources to both CCGs and LAs. ACRA has considered the impact of rurality on a number of occasions, and it is being considered again as part of its current work programme:
	ACRA's recommendations will be published in due course. Actual allocations to CCGs and to LAs will be announced in late 2012.

Ophthalmology: Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ophthalmologists were operating in Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2011.

Simon Burns: Data held by the National Health Service Information Centre for health and social care show the number of ophthalmologists operating in Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust from 2005-10 in the following table:
	
		
			 Numbers (headcount) and full-time equivalents (FTE) 
			  All staff FTE of which Consultants (headcount) FTE 
			 2005 13 13 6 6 
			 2006 14 14 6 6 
			 2007 13 13 6 6 
			 2008 12 12 6 6 
			 2009 13 13 6 6 
			 20101 17 17 7 7 
			 (1) The new headcount methodology for 2010 headcount data is not fully comparable with previous years data due to improvements that make it a more stringent count of absolute staff numbers. Further information on the headcount methodology is available in the Census publication. Notes: 1. Headcount totals are unlikely to equal the sum of components. 2. Data Quality The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where changes impact on figures already published, this is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre Medical and Dental Workforce Census

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the outcome of recent talks between the Prime Minister and President of Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Prime Minister met President Karzai on 28 January. They had a productive discussion on a range of issues including transition, the peace process and the international community's long-term commitment to Afghanistan. They signed the UK-Afghan Enduring Strategic Partnership, signalling our shared vision of a secure and stable Afghanistan.

Business and Human Rights

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received on the potential effects of the legislative proposals in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill on the UK’s commitment to the UN guiding principles on business and human rights.

Jeremy Browne: Members of the Foreign Secretary's Advisory Group on Human Rights raised this issue in December. It has also been raised by other civil society organisations and members of the public.

Judiciary: Hungary

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Hungarian Government on state control of the judiciary in that country.

Jeremy Browne: An independent judiciary is necessary for the preservation of democracy and fundamental freedoms. We have urged Hungary to consider the implications of their new laws and to continue working with the European Commission to ensure these laws are consistent with EU norms.

Algeria

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many electoral observers from the UK he proposes will be present during the parliamentary elections in Algeria in May 2012.

Alistair Burt: The Algerian Government have invited foreign election monitors to take part in observing the elections in Algeria for the first time. This is a significant step, which we welcome. Although plans have not yet been finalised, the EU, OSCE and a number of non governmental organisations and other regional organisations are considering taking part. We expect embassy officials to take up this positive offer and are also exploring with the Algerian authorities the options for Members of this House to participate.

Bahrain

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has had discussions regarding the staging of the Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The staging of the Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain is entirely the decision of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). We have not had any discussions regarding this event, nor have we made any representations to the FIA.

China

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of China on its population planning policies; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Browne: I have not had any recent discussions with the Chinese Government on the issue of their population planning policies. However, the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Guildford (Anne Milton), held discussions on the issue during her visit to Beijing in November 2011. Anne Milton met the Vice-Chair of the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) and discussed family planning policy and China's ageing population.

Departmental Pay

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible are paid (i) £100,000 and (ii) £142,500 or more per annum.

Henry Bellingham: Details of salaries paid to senior staff in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are published at regular intervals in line with Government policy on transparency.
	The latest data are available at
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/publications-and-documents/transparency-and-data1/fco-staff-salary/
	http://www.britishcouncil.org/new/about-us/how-we-are-run/folder_how-we-are-run/who-manages-us/salaries-and-expenses/
	http://www.fcoservices.gov.uk/eng/ourorganisation/652.asp
	There are no staff employed by the Wilton Park Executive Agency, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy or the Great Britain China Centre who are paid a salary greater than £100,000.

Departmental Private Education

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department paid to send the children of civil servants to (a) private boarding schools, (b) private day schools and (c) Eton College in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; how much he expects to allocate for such purposes in 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: It is a condition of their employment that members of the diplomatic service must be prepared to serve anywhere in the world at any time during their career, sometimes at very short notice. Those with children have a legal obligation as parents to ensure that their children receive a full-time education from the age of five years. Most parents prefer to take their children with them abroad, but in some countries we do not permit staff to take their children either for health or security reasons. In others, local schools of an acceptable standard are not available. It is longstanding practice that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) helps staff meet their potentially conflicting obligations by providing financial support for their children's education in the UK where staff choose this, or are obliged to do so given local conditions in the country to which they are posted. Continuity of education is also an important factor, particularly at secondary level.
	The FCO refunds standard term fees up to a ceiling, which is reviewed annually. The maximum amount the FCO will pay, currently £25,731 per year for a senior boarding child, is determined by an independent survey conducted by Employment Conditions Abroad (ECA), a private company who provide advice and information to public and private sector employers whose staff work across the world. Various factors, including availability of places (sometimes at short notice) and proximity of other family members, influence which schools staff choose for their children. Where staff opt to send their children to more expensive schools staff meet the difference in cost. Eton fees would be above the ceiling.
	The FCO spent a total of £13,067,398 on UK schooling in financial year 2010-11. The final costs for the current financial year are not yet known as the last payments are being processed, but the indications are that the final spend will be similar to last year's. Based on the numbers and ages of children who are forecast to be attending school we expect to allocate a budget of around £13.5 million for 2012-13.
	We do not routinely pay for children to attend independent day schools in the UK. But children, who have previously boarded while parents were overseas, may become day pupils at the same school to continue their education whilst their parents are in the UK between postings. Additionally, a few children who accompany parents overseas and are educated in the international system may need to attend a private school in the UK to continue their education in that system during time spent here. Spending in this category accounts for around 15% of the total budget spend.
	We are not able to provide details of payments made in connection with individual schools attended by children of staff in the UK and overseas, in order to avoid disclosures that, taken with other information, could identify individual members of staff and their families.

Departmental Senior Civil Servants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many senior civil servants left his Department and its public bodies in each month since May 2010; what their names are; what the rate of turnover of senior civil servants in his Department was during this period; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: Ninety senior management structure (SMS) officers have left the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) since May 2010. This includes those leaving the FCO Services Trading Fund. Data for the arms length bodies is not held centrally and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
	The number leaving each month was:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2010:  
			 May 1 
			 June 2 
			 July 1 
			 August 5 
			 September 4 
			 October 8 
			 November 5 
			 December 5 
			 2011:  
			 January 4 
			 February 2 
			 March 16 
			 April 0 
			 May 0 
			 June 4 
			 July 4 
			 August 4 
			 September 9 
			 October 3 
			 November 8 
			 December 2 
			 2012:  
			 January 3 
		
	
	Of the 90 leavers: 70 left on retirement, early retirement or severance, resignation, permanent transfer to another government department or career break; 14 left at the end of short-term loans to return to their parent departments; and six left at the end of fixed-term appointments.
	For reasons of personal privacy, it would not be appropriate to provide the names of senior civil servants who are no longer in Government employment.
	In overall terms these figures represent a turnover rate for the 21 month period of roughly 22%.

European Union: Business

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department has spent on (a) consular services, (b) country-specific research, (c) hospitality and (d) promoting British business interests in each EU member state; and what proportion of the cost of running each embassy this amounts to.

William Hague: The following table provides details of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) spend within each EU member state on consular services, hospitality and promoting British business interests during 2010-11 and the approximate proportion of the net operating costs these amount to. Details of the spend on country-specific research could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The FCO's network of Posts plays a critical role in maintaining important bilateral relationships, helping to push the UK's prosperity agenda and providing consular support to British nationals overseas. Net expenditure varies significantly from Post to Post, including between those of similar size. This is due to a range of factors including income received, for example for consular services, the value of the FCO's locally owned estate and other country-specific factors such as local staff salary levels and employers' social security contributions, rental costs, and utility prices.
	
		
			 Country Consular (£) Consular as % country total Business hospitality (£) Business hospitality as % country total UKTI—promoting British business interests (£) UKTI—promoting British business interests as % country total 
			 Austria 339,133 8 50,081 1 958,957 22 
			 Belgium 202,120 3 21,874 0 2,944,302 37 
			 Bulgaria 322,559 18 14,539 1 427,934 24 
			 Cyprus 593,124 32 29,076 1 572,786 31 
			 Czech Republic 298,611 13 16,402 0 876,101 37 
			 Denmark 63,247 2 27,877 1 1,412,289 44 
			 Estonia 57,039 6 2,282 0 302,736 31 
			 Finland 138,924 5 25,257 1 1,563,348 55 
			 France - 869,079 -11 272,904 2 3,602,975 46 
			 Germany - 893,854 -6 153,218 1 5,046,766 36 
			 Greece 1,092,200 24 34,003 1 1,122,480 25 
			 Hungary 317,375 10 42,562 1 940,132 30 
			 Ireland - 543,642 -64 59,979 3 953,862 112 
			 Italy 1,489,948 32 86,588 2 2,231,857 48 
			 Latvia 27,647 4 14,489 1 133,925 20 
			 Lithuania 45,874 5 14,448 1 218,706 25 
			 Luxembourg 295,745 27 13,317 1 199,885 18 
			 Malta 388,062 24 21,111 1 29,949 2 
			 The Netherlands 380,537 10 13,581 0 940,966 24 
			 Poland 93,943 3 35,383 1 882,602 30 
			 Portugal 803,846 26 20,105 0 1,164,628 37 
		
	
	
		
			 Romania 186,750 10 23,136 1 723,719 38 
			 Slovakia 57,882 5 19,157 1 314,230 26 
			 Slovenia 72,520 7 11,628 1 246,130 22 
			 Spain 3,401,965 27 102,016 1 3,815,902 31 
			 Sweden 318,302 10 33,762 1 1,164,629 38 
			 Note: The percentages in the table are derived from net operating cost figures. Net costs exclude overheads, corporate and programme costs and some elements of management support. In France, Germany and Ireland, income exceeded the net operating costs as these Posts received income through their role as regional passport processing hubs. This has produced negative figures/percentages or a percentage exceeding 100.

Libya

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department last met the Libyan government; and whether allegations of human rights abuses committed by government forces and associated militias were discussed.

Alistair Burt: The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the hon. Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne), and I both raised our serious concerns regarding the recent allegations of mistreatment and torture in Libya with the Libyan Interior Minister when he visited the UK in late January. The Prime Minister, also reiterated these concerns to the Minister during his visit. Our ambassador in Tripoli has also raised this issue with members of the Libyan Transitional Government.
	The Libyan Deputy Prime Minister announced on 31 January that all allegations of mistreatment will be investigated. He also announced that officials from the Ministries of Justice and Interior would visit detention centres and begin the process of bringing all detention facilities under central control. The UK has already provided training to Libyan judges and legal professionals and will be providing further support, including on prison reform. The UK will continue to urge the Transitional Government to live up to their human rights commitments.

Libya

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance the UK has provided to the Libyan Government to integrate militia forces in the Libyan armed forces.

Alistair Burt: The complex process for integrating militias forces in Libya into the state security services is led by the Libyan authorities with international support led by the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Through our embassy in Tripoli, the Government have been working closely with UNSMIL to help shape and implement the Libyan Government's plan, including through a security workshop in Tripoli on 20 and 21 February. A UK senior policing adviser is assisting the Minister of Interior with police reform, including reintegration of militia members. Our defence adviser in Tripoli continues to monitor the reintegration programme, and the British Government are looking at options to provide rapid strategic advice to the Libyan Ministry of Defence.

Libya

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage the Libyan government to protect citizens of sub-Sahara nations and regions from attacks by militia forces.

Alistair Burt: I have raised the importance of respect for minority groups in Libya in discussions with the Libyan Government, most recently with the Libyan Deputy Minister for Civil Society, Dr Atia Lawgali. We have also worked through the UN to press the Libyan Government to take proper account of this issue.
	The Prime Minister, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Mr Browne), and I raised the UK's serious concerns about the treatment of all detainees, including those of sub-Saharan origin, being held by militia forces in separate meetings with the Libyan Interior Minister, Mr Abdilal, during his recent visit to the UK. We pressed for concrete action. Mr Abdilai confirmed that bringing all detainees under full government control was a high priority for the Libyan authorities and reassured us that action was in hand. The Libyan Deputy Prime Minister announced last month the formation of a committee to begin the process of bringing all detention facilities under the central control of the Justice Ministry. He also stated that all allegations of mistreatment would be investigated.
	We continue to monitor the situation closely, and work with the EU and UN on this issue.

Libya

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Libyan government to allow the Mshashiya and Tawergha peoples who have been displaced to remain in their homes.

Alistair Burt: When I met the Deputy Minister for Culture and Civil Society, Dr Atia Lawgali, during his recent visit to the UK, I stressed the importance of forming an inclusive society in the new Libya. Our ambassador in Tripoli has spoken to the Deputy Foreign Minister about how reconciliation between different communities, particularly the Tawergha could be achieved. We are also working closely with the UN who have called on the Libyan Government to investigate recent attacks on the Tawergha community. UN Security Council Resolution 2009 highlights the need to protect members of minority communities.
	UK officials in Libya are in contact with a wide variety of minority groups and will continue to raise their concerns with the Transitional Government.

Mali

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to support the Presidential elections in Mali in April 2012.

Henry Bellingham: The British Government, along with its EU partners, supports the democratic process in Mali and is committed to peace, security and stability across the region. Our ambassador in Bamako has regularly made our support clear to the Malian Government and will be taking part in an informal election observer team along with other EU embassies.

Mali

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many electoral observers from the UK he proposes will be present during the presidential elections in Mali in April 2012.

Henry Bellingham: There are no plans to send official UK observers to the presidential elections in Mali in April 2012. Our embassy in Bamako will be part of an informal election observer team along with other EU embassies. The EU will send a technical mission to support the electoral authorities in Mali. We will continue to work with regional organisations to identify opportunities for additional observer missions.

Nigeria

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to protect Christians in Nigeria from persecution; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: The British Government are concerned by the loss of life suffered by both Christian and Muslim communities in Nigeria due to recent violent attacks, many of which have been claimed by Boko Haram and existing inter-communal conflict. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has condemned the 20 January attacks in Kano and the Christmas day attacks in Yobe, Plateau and Niger states. The British Government are working with the Nigerian Government to ensure that all Nigerians can live in peace. The Prime Minister reaffirmed our joint commitment to tackling security and terrorism when he met President Jonathan on 22 February 2012. Britain has shared experience on counter-terrorism policy, doctrine and legal frameworks, providing assistance in areas. The Department for International Development also operates programmes in Nigeria that focus on addressing grievances underlying conflict. Furthermore, through our high commission in Abuja, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has promoted a number of bridge building initiatives and supported a conference in Kano that brought together local leaders to discuss Islam, peace building and political engagement.

Palestinians

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with the (a) Egyptian, (b) Palestinian and (c) Israeli governments on the political and economic situation in the Gaza strip.

Alistair Burt: We regularly discuss the political and economic situation in Gaza with the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, and on occasion with the Egyptian Government. In those discussions, we have argued for a relaxation of Israeli access and movement restrictions on Gaza; expressed our concern at the frequent exchange of rocket attacks and air strikes; and set out our position on reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. I most recently raised the situation in Gaza with the Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister on 18 January while Gaza was a subject of discussion during President Abbas's visit to London on 15-17 January.

Saudi Arabia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on measures to increase exports to Saudi Arabia.

Alistair Burt: Increasing UK exports to Saudi Arabia was last discussed at ministerial level at the Gulf Initiative ministerial meeting on 9 February 2012, which I chaired. There are significant opportunities in the education, health care and financial services sectors; we believe these to be key areas for both countries.

Saudi Arabia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will consider commissioning the setting up of a British Trade Pavilion in Riyadh to showcase British goods and services.

Alistair Burt: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has no plans to commission a British Trade Pavilion in Riyadh. However, the British Government are committed to enhancing our trade relationship with Saudi Arabia and to showcasing British goods and services across the globe, including in Riyadh.

Senegal

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the decision by Senegal's constitutional court to allow current Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade to stand for a third term.

Henry Bellingham: The British Government are aware of the controversy surrounding the Senegal Constitutional Court's decision on the eligibility of President Wade to contest a third term. Ultimately however it is the Senegalese people who will choose their next President. The Senegalese people voted on 26 February in a calm atmosphere. We now await the official results. We welcome the deployment of the EU Election Observation Mission to observe these elections and look forward to their report in due course.

Sri Lanka

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many UK nationals have requested consular support in Sri Lanka in the past month.

Alistair Burt: The British high commission in Colombo provided consular assistance in relation to 28 British nationals in January 2012, the last full month for which statistics are available. This included assistance with regards to lost passports, hospitalisations and approaches to the consular section for advice, including in regards to the transfer of money overseas and liaising with local authorities.

Sri Lanka

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the number of political prisoners in Sri Lanka.

Alistair Burt: We are concerned about the number of individuals who continue to be detained without charge following the conflict. We regularly receive reports from civil society organisations regarding these detainees.

Sri Lanka

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of the judicial process in Sri Lanka;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the conformity of Sri Lanka with international standards of judicial independence and integrity.

Alistair Burt: Sri Lanka has a developed judicial system, but there are significant challenges to effective criminal justice and rule of law. The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission's report, issued by the Sri Lankan Government, found that
	“a large number of persons having political patronage had committed offences, but the long arm of the law had not reached them because of the political pressure exerted on law enforcement authorities.”
	We also have concerns about the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to detain some suspects for prolonged periods without charge.
	The Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers has requested a visit to Sri Lanka, but this has not been taken up by the Sri Lankan Government; we urge them to do so.

Sri Lanka

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received from (a) the International Crisis Group, (b) Amnesty International and (c) Human Rights Watch on the treatment by the Sri Lankan Government of Sarath Fonseka.

Alistair Burt: We have received representations about Sri Lanka from all of these organisations, but not specifically on the case of Sarath Fonseka.

Sri Lanka

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  whether he (a) has made and (b) plans to make representations to the Government of Sri Lanka on the prison sentence given to Sarath Fonseka; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what reports he has received on the (a) trial and (b) imprisonment of Sarath Fonseka in Sri Lanka.

Alistair Burt: On 18 November 2011, former Chief of the Sri Lankan Army and presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka, was found guilty of spreading rumours likely to cause public alarm and disorder and sentenced to three years in prison.
	We have not made specific representations on the case of Sarath Fonseka, but the UK consistently urges the Sri Lankan Government to ensure that the law is fairly and objectively applied in all cases.

Sri Lanka

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the treatment by the Government of Sri Lanka of Sarath Fonseka.

Alistair Burt: I have regular discussions with international counterparts about Sri Lanka, but have not recently discussed Sarath Fonseka. Our high commission in Colombo has had discussions about the Sarath Fonseka case with other diplomatic missions.

Syria

Andrew Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Syria.

William Hague: I have made clear repeatedly that President Assad has lost legitimacy and must step down. An inclusive Syrian-led political process is needed, which addresses the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. We recognise the Syrian National Council as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people seeking peaceful democratic change. It is for the Syrian people to take forward their aspirations for a more open, inclusive political future.

Taxis

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on taxis in each of the last two years.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) currently uses two contracts in the UK with private hire companies: Addison Lee, covering the London area and Raffles Taxis covering the Milton Keynes area.
	The following spend for both of these two suppliers for the FCO and FCO Services is as follows;
	
		
			  £ 
			 2010-11 318,688.92 
			 2011-12(1) 231,469.31 
			 (1) To December. 
		
	
	Procurement activity overseas is devolved to our network of over 260 posts across 170 countries. Information on taxi use by FCO staff overseas is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

TREASURY

Action for Employment

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what contracts his Department has with A4e; and what the (a) purpose and (b) monetary value is of each such contract.

Chloe Smith: HM Treasury does not have any contracts with A4e.

Gift Aid: Leeds

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many charities registered in Leeds North West constituency have applied for Gift Aid in each of the last five years; and how much such charities have received through Gift Aid in each of the last five years.

Chloe Smith: HM Revenue and Customs does not separately identify Gift Aid claims by regions of the UK.
	Amounts of tax repaid to charities in the UK on donations under Gift Aid are published in Table 10.1 on the HMRC website at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/charities/menu.htm
	In 2010-11 a total of £1,081 billion (provisional figure) was repaid to UK charities under Gift Aid.

Monetary Policy

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the likely level of costs of borrowing if quantitative easing had not been implemented.

Mark Hoban: The independent Monetary Policy Committee sets monetary policy, including quantitative easing through the Asset Purchase Facility (APF), in order to meet the 2% inflation target over the medium term.
	The Bank of England has estimated that quantitative easing (QE) carried out between March 2009 and January 2010 had a downward impact on gilt yields.
	In addition, the clear and credible consolidation plan set out by the Government have resulted in the UK continuing to be seen as a relative safe haven. This has helped keep interest rates lower for families, businesses and taxpayers.

Non-domestic Rates

Derek Twigg: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the 5.6 per cent. increase in business rates planned for April 2012 on (a) the retail sector and (b) small stores;
	(2)  what recent representations he has received on the potential effect of the 5.6 per cent. increase in business rates planned for April 2012 on business growth.

David Gauke: Business rates are annually uprated by RPI inflation. The Government keep all taxes under review and all representations are taken into consideration.
	The autumn statement of 29 November 2011, Official Report, columns 799-810, announced the 2012-13 deferral scheme which will give businesses the opportunity to defer 60% of the RPI increase in 2012-13 business rates bills, and also a further six month extension of the Small Business Rates Relief holiday from 1 October 2012.

Planning Permission

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2011, Official Report, columns 368-9W, on planning: expenditure, what recent estimate his Department has made of the financial benefits of the planning system to the UK economy; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: Good planning can bring substantial economic and financial benefits, in particular through providing predictability for applicants and co-ordinating development. The Government's aim is to improve the role planning plays in supporting the economy, by providing clearer and simpler policy guidance and focusing the planning system on delivering sustainable development and growth.

Tax Avoidance

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the number of people non-domiciled for UK tax purposes in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: Based on initial analysis of self assessment (SA) returns received to date, 118,000 individuals indicated non-domicile status for the 2009-10 tax year which is the most recent tax year for which data are available. However, this figure may need to be revised once data for all tax returns in that year have been analysed.

Taxation: Business

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to improve transparency relating to tax in businesses under public sector control.

David Gauke: “Managing Public Money” provides the guidance for public spending against which Departments are audited, and applies to all central Government organisations and civil servants.
	www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/mpm_ch4.pdf
	Following questions about the pay arrangements around the appointment of the chief executive of the Student Loans Company, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), has asked officials to review public sector appointments and tax arrangements including where payments are made through a personal service company.
	The Treasury officer of accounts has also written to departmental accounting officers to remind them that public sector organisations should not use artificial tax avoidance devices.

Taxation: Debts Written Off

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish details of each tax write-off in excess of £500,000 made by HM Revenue and Customs since May 2010.

David Gauke: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Table 9.2 on page 157 of HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) 2010-11 annual accounts sets out the amounts of revenue that HMRC remitted and wrote off in 2009-10 and 2010-11. The HMRC annual accounts are available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/annual-report-accounts-1011.pdf
	Tax debts are remitted where they are capable of being recovered but HMRC decides not to pursue a liability. It does this: when the value of a debt is small compared with the likely cost of recovering it; when enforcing payment would cause an individual, or his or her dependents, to suffer financial hardship; or where an earlier error by HMRC would make it inappropriate or unfair for it to enforce payment.
	HMRC writes-off debts when they have become irrecoverable because there are no practical means for pursuing the debt. This applies where taxpayers have gone missing and HMRC has not been able to trace their current whereabouts or where they have moved overseas to a territory outside the European Union with which the UK has no reciprocal recovery rights.
	Debts are also written off where individuals or companies have become insolvent. When this happens, HMRC aims to recover a proportion of what it is owed consistent with its legal rights as a creditor, and it writes off the tax that cannot be recovered in this way.

Taxation: Oil

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much taxation revenue came from onshore oil production in England in (a) 2005 and (b) 2011.

Chloe Smith: Total revenues from all UK oil and gas production activities are published by HMRC, but it is not possible to identify accurately the split between total onshore and offshore revenues, or by region.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peace Keeping Operations

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what lessons his Department has learned from the experience of the supply of post-withdrawal (a) equipment and (ii) training packages in Iraq.

Nick Harvey: holding answer 23 February 2012
	The Ministry of Defence has not supplied any equipment to Iraq since before the end of Combat Operations on 31 July 2009. Our programme of officer training in the UK continues and has not suffered any significant problems. Training in Iraq through the NATO training mission came to an end in December 2011.

Air Training Corps: Disciplinary Proceedings

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what average length of time was taken to resolve suspension of an officer of the Air Training Corps in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011; how long has been taken on average in 2012; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: Three cases of officers of the Air Training Corps suspended during 2010 and 2011 have been resolved. No cases from 2012 have been resolved as of 20 February. One case from 2010 was resolved after an 18 month period. Two cases from 2011 have been resolved, one after six months, the other one month.

Apache Helicopters

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Apache helicopters are based in Afghanistan.

Gerald Howarth: I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Apache Helicopters

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Apache helicopters there are in the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Marines.

Gerald Howarth: None. All Apache helicopters are Army assets. However, some Apache helicopters are flown by aircrew from the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, as part of a longstanding tri-service exchange programme.

Apache Helicopters

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what weapons systems are used by the Apache helicopter.

Gerald Howarth: The Apache AH Mk1 weapons systems are 30mm Automatic Cannon, wing mounted 70mm Ariel Rocket and Hellfire Modular Missile Systems. The Apache is capable of carrying any combination of these pylon-mounted rockets and/or missiles.
	The Apache AH Mk1 factsheet, is available on the Ministry of Defence website at:
	http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/Factsheets/EquipmentFactsheets/ApacheAhMk1.htm

Apache Helicopters

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the performance of Apache during Operation Ellamy.

Gerald Howarth: Apache helicopters performed well on Operation Ellamy, deploying from HMS Ocean for the first time, and made a substantial contribution to the NATO mission to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1973 and protect the civilian population of Libya.

Apache Helicopters

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if his Department plans to develop a permanent helicopter carrier capability which would include Apache helicopters.

Gerald Howarth: The means for delivering our future landing platform helicopter (LPH) capability have not yet been decided, nor has the eventual out-of-service date of HMS Ocean, which provides the current capability. These decisions will be taken to ensure coherence with the introduction into service of the new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
	While not originally designed as a maritime helicopter, the Ministry of Defence has modified and cleared the Apache to support maritime operations, such as those demonstrated from HMS Ocean on Op Ellamy (Libya). The Government believes that a modern carrier capability should be able to undertake a variety of roles, and the flexibility of the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers will allow them to be optimised around an air group consisting of the joint strike fighter and Merlin helicopter, with a number of other platforms, including Apache, designated as 'secondary aircraft'.

Armed Forces: Private Education

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff in his Department were in receipt of the continuity of education allowance in (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2010-11; and what the cost to his Department was in respect of staff based (i) in the UK and (ii) overseas in each year.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 27 February 2012
	The purpose of continuity of education allowance (CEA) is to allow the children of service personnel to achieve a stable education against a background of parental postings both at home and overseas.
	The amount paid to service personnel based in the UK and overseas for financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11 can be found in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Number of personnel receiving CEA Amount paid to personnel in UK (£ million) Amount paid to personnel overseas (£ million) 
			 2009-10 6,020 90.9 20.4 
			 2010-11 6,090 94.6 20.2 
		
	
	Elements of CEA are subject to a pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) settlement agreement with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for tax purposes. Therefore, in addition to the money paid to individuals, the MOD also makes payments to HMRC for tax and national insurance (NI) following the grossing up of CEA. The amounts paid for financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11 can be found in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Tax and NI costs (1)  (£ million) 
			 2009-10 65.6 
			 2010-11 (2)83.4 
			 (1) Costs for tax and NI quoted are for all personnel, irrespective of location. (2) The significant increase in Tax and NI costs are due to a variety of factors including an increase in the value of the PAYE settlement with HMRC and changes in tax bands.

Armed Forces: Training

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will update the Defence Training Review 2000 to take account of the 2010-15 Strategic Defence and Security Review for the purposes of calculation and assessment of future military training needs.

Andrew Robathan: There are no current plans to update Defence Training Review 2000 because the Strategic Defence and Security Review process offered, and will continue to offer, the opportunity to review training and education across Defence.

Departmental Lost Property

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers, (c) mobile telephones, (d) BlackBerrys, (e) CD and DVD discs, (f) removable hard disk drives, (g) printers, (h) backup tapes, (i) USB memory sticks and (j) other IT assets that were reported lost in 2011 were lost in (i) the UK and (ii) overseas.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 27 February 2012
	The MOD takes any loss of CIS and associated media storage devices very seriously and has robust procedures in place to stop this happening, and investigate when it does. New processes, instructions and technological aids are also being implemented to reduce to a minimum human error and raise the awareness of every individual in the MOD.
	The following table sets out how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers, (c) mobile telephones, (d) BlackBerrys, (e) CD and DVD discs, (f)removable hard disk drives, (g) printers, (h) backup tapes, (i) USB memory sticks and (j) other IT assets that were reported lost in 2011 were lost in (i) the UK and (ii) overseas.
	
		
			 CIS Asset Lost within UK Lost overseas Total 
			 Desktop computers 1 2 3 
			 Laptop computers 36 20 56 
			 Mobile telephones 8 1 9 
			 BlackBerry's 10 0 10 
			 CD and DVDs 78 162 240 
			 Removable hard disk drives 30 9 39 
			 Printers 2 0 2 
			 Backup tapes 4 1 5 
			 USB Memory sticks 28 6 34 
			 Notes: 1. These are only the incidents that were reported to the Joint Security Co-ordination Centre (JSyCC) and may not include any losses which are in the reporting process. 2. These totals do not include incidents which are currently under investigation and may also include some losses relating to accounting anomalies during force rotation and/or disposal activities: 3. The data does not necessarily take account of assets that have subsequently been found or returned. To determine where this is the case, each incident would have to be individually reviewed in detail and it has not been possible to do so in the time available.

Members: Correspondence

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to answer the letter from the hon. Member for Harrow West on the answering of a parliamentary question on civil servant salary arrangements; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 27 February 2012
	The hon. Member's letter of 16 February 2012 was received by the Ministry of Defence on 20 February; I will respond shortly. In the interim, I can confirm that the answer I gave on 10 January 2012, Official Report, column 17W, was correct.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

A4e

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contracts his Department has with A4e; and what the (a) purpose and (b) value is of each such contract.

Alan Duncan: There have been no contracts centrally let by the Department for International Development with A4e.

Afghanistan

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect which the withdrawal of ISAF combat troops from Afghanistan before the end of 2014 will have on the gross national income of that country.

Andrew Mitchell: The World Bank recently published a report on effect of transition including the withdrawal of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops on the economy of Afghanistan. It used figures for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), rather than the Gross National Income (GNI), and our discussions with international partners have therefore been based around GDP. The report forecasts a budget shortfall of around 40% of GDP by 2014-15 and 25% of GDP by 2021-22 ($7.2 billion at 2011 prices). This includes both security and development costs.
	At the Bonn Conference in December the international community, including the UK, agreed in principle to provide long-term financial support in line with the Government of Afghanistan's priorities. Further discussions on these issues will take place at the Chicago and Tokyo international conferences later this year. The UK continues to support the Afghan Government to increase its tax revenue and encourage economic growth to help reduce dependency on aid overtime.

Afghanistan

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the gross national income of Afghanistan in 2011.

Andrew Mitchell: Estimates for Afghanistan's gross national income (GNI) in 2011 are not yet available. The Afghan financial (and calendar) year ends in March 2012. Afghanistan's GNI in 2010 was US$14.3 billion, an increase of 16% on the previous year.

Burma

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid he allocated to Burma in 2011-12; and what estimate he has made of the allocation for (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

Andrew Mitchell: British aid to Burma will combat the spread of drug-resistant malaria, improve healthcare, avert 153,000 unintended pregnancies, improve livelihoods, strengthen civil society, help 200,000 children complete primary school, and support conflict affected people.
	In 2011-12 £36 million has been allocated towards these efforts. For 2013-13 the allocation is £36 million, and for 2013-14 the allocation is £55 million. In January this year £2 million worth of funding was announced for humanitarian work in Kachin state, this funding is in addition to the figures quoted above.

Burma

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the number of people living in relocation sites as a result of the Myitsone Dam project in Burma; what assistance his Department has provided for such people in the last year; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: Sources suggest about 400 households, including around 2,000 people, have been displaced to a new village. The Department for International Development has made no specific allocation to those re-located but is supporting NGOs which are providing assistance to 27,500 internally displaced people in other areas of Kachin State over the next four months.
	It is important that the Burmese Government listen to the needs and interests of their people in deciding the future of this project. We note that Aung San Suu Kyi supported the President's decision to suspend the construction during her meeting with the Burmese Minister of Labour on 30 September 2011. We welcome this further stage of dialogue and urge the Burmese Government to ensure that it continues.

Departmental Pay

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible are paid (i) £100,000 and (ii) £142,500 or more per annum.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) has: (i) seven officials who are paid between £100,000 and £142,499; and (ii) one official who is paid £142,500 or more.

Departmental Private Education

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department paid to send the children of civil servants to (a) private boarding schools in total, (b) private day schools in total and (c) Eton College in (i) 2010-11 and (ii) 2011-12; how much he expects to allocate for such purposes in 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: The Department for International Development (DFID) reimburses employees on overseas postings for private schooling overseas or boarding school fees in the UK for their children, within financial ceilings.
	The terms and conditions of employment in DFID are set in order to recruit, motivate and retain staff who are skilled and equipped to meet DFID's objectives. Those with children have a legal obligation as parents to ensure that their children receive a full-time education from the age of five, and they pay UK tax wherever they work. Most parents prefer to take their children with them, but in some countries they are not permitted to do so, either for health or security reasons. Continuity of education is also an important factor, particularly at secondary level.
	Our central records relate to education allowance paid to Home Civil Service staff serving overseas to assist with school fees in the UK or in an overseas location and are not held in a format that allows for the disaggregation between boarding school and private day school payments. We do not hold a central record of school fees which are paid locally by overseas offices in respect of children in education in these countries.
	The amount spent on education allowance by DFID was:
	
		
			 Financial year Total (£) 
			 2010-11 1,061,307 
			 2011-12 (April to January) 931,591 
		
	
	Our records show no children of DFID staff attended Eton College during the periods 2010-11 and 2011-12.
	The amount that DFID will pay on education allowance in 2012-13 will be dependant on the number, of school age children, of staff working overseas. We would estimate the amount will be similar to the previous two years provided in the table.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Departmental Pay

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Attorney-General how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible are paid (i) £100,000 and (ii) £142,500 or more per annum.

Edward Garnier: The information requested is contained in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of civil servants paid £100,000 or higher 
			 Organisation £100,000 to £142,499 £142,500 or more 
			 Attorney-General's Office 1 0 
			 Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate 0 (1)1 
			 Treasury Solicitor's Department 5 1 
			 Serious Fraud Office 2 1 
			 Crown Prosecution Service 24 3 
			 (1) Public appointment on a fixed salary of £150,000 (no pension provision)—not a civil servant.

Departmental Senior Civil Servants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Attorney-General how many senior civil servants left the Law Officers' Departments and their public bodies in each month since May 2010; what their names are; what the rate of turnover of senior civil servants in the Law Officers' Departments was during this period; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Garnier: Information on the number of senior civil servants who have left the Law Officers' Departments is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  TSol AGO HMCPSI SFO CPS 
			 May 2010 1 — — — 3 
			 June 2010 — — 1 — 0 
			 July 2010 — — — — 1 
			 August 2010 2 — — — 4 
			 September 2010 1 1 — — 2 
			 October 2010 1 — — — 1 
			 November 2010 — — — — 1 
			 December 2010 — — — — 0 
			 January 2011 — — — — 0 
			 February 2011 — — — — 1 
			 March 2011 3 — — — 1 
			 April 2011 — 1 — — 1 
			 May 2011 2 — — 2 1 
			 June 2011 — — — — 0 
			 July 2011 — — — 1 0 
			 August 2011 1 — — — 0 
			 September 2011 — — — 1 0 
			 October 2011 1 — — — 1 
			 November 2011 — — — — 0 
			 December 2011 — — — — 0 
			 January 2012 1 1 — 1 0 
			 February 2012 4 — — — 0 
			 Total 17 3 1 5 17 
			       
			 Turnover rate (May 2010 to February 2012) (percentage) (1)26 50 85.9 
			 (1) Includes AGO and HMCPSI data as TSol fulfil the personnel functions for both organisations. (2) The CPS turnover is not representative of the reduction in staffing numbers—in real terms the reduction of SCS staff over this period is 47%. 
		
	
	Names have been withheld as it would be inappropriate to reveal the identities of individuals who may no longer work for the Government.

EDUCATION

Children: Protection

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps the Government is taking with parents to reduce the incidence of child neglect.

Tim Loughton: The Government continue to support the development and implementation of a number of evidence based interventions for families where children are on the edge of care, including a particular programme focusing on child abuse and neglect. These are therapeutic interventions with a recognised evidence base which have demonstrated effectiveness in significantly improving parenting skills.
	Maltreating children is wholly unacceptable and the Government strongly believe that the responsibility lies within us to prevent children from suffering harm and to help those who have been abused or neglected. In line with this, the Government have agreed with the recommendations put forward by Professor Munro to provide support to children and families as soon as a need is identified.
	The Department also funds a range of family support services delivered by the voluntary sector, such as Family Lives, Gingerbread and the Family Rights Group. Parents can turn to these organisations to seek advice and support in their parenting or if particular issues are a concern, such as involvement with children's services.

Education Funding Agency: Manpower

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be employed by the Education Funding Agency in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 27 February 2012
	The precise number of staff for the Education Funding Agency is under discussion, but, in broad terms, the agency will have around 750 to 800 staff in 2012-13. The vast majority of the staff will have worked previously in the Young People's Learning Agency or Partnerships for Schools or will have moved to the agency from elsewhere in the Department for Education. Staffing numbers for subsequent years will be reviewed in due course. The agency's staff will all be employees of the Department.

Education Funding Agency: Manpower

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of staff who will transfer from the Young Person's Learning Agency to the Education Funding Agency.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 27 February 2012
	580 posts will move from the Young Person's Learning Agency (YPLA) to the Education Funding Agency on 1 April 2012. The large majority of these posts will be filled by staff employed by the YPLA on 31 March. Around 27 posts will be filled by Department staff previously on secondment to the YPLA.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with charities on the effects of the withdrawal of education maintenance allowance.

Tim Loughton: None of the Department for Education Ministers have formally discussed the education maintenance allowance with charities since the beginning of this year.

Families

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress he is making on provision of family and relationship support at times of additional pressure.

Sarah Teather: The Government have made considerable progress on provision of family and relationship support.
	The Government attach a high priority to supporting couple relationships and have committed a dedicated fund of £30 million over the spending review period. A range of expert providers are being funded to deliver activities including work to normalise the take up of support, innovative preventative services, counselling for couples experiencing difficulties and support for when relationships breakdown. Research has also been commissioned to test the efficacy of a number of interventions and a procurement exercise has been launched to test ways of promoting relationship support for first time parents.
	In July 2011, the Department contracted with 11 organisations to provide family support services online and through telephone helplines. The most recent figures (from January 2012) show that the services have been contacted by 3.2 million parents over the previous seven months, of which, 340,000 were seeking advice and guidance and 69,000 intensive support, with the remainder seeking a wide range of parenting information.
	The Department has also provided grant funding to voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations for a number of projects, including:
	School-home Support, to train professionals who work with parents in and around schools. This will allow schools to be better placed to reach out and help more families support their children’s education.
	Home-Start UK, to support and advise local Home Start schemes which provide help in the home by trained volunteers for vulnerable families with children under five.
	Booktrust, for a new book gifting programme; including new targeted elements providing extra support to families for whom books and reading for pleasure are not yet such a part of everyday life.
	The Department announced on 18 October 2011 that a trial of universal parenting classes for mothers and fathers of children 0-5 years will run from spring 2012 in three areas (Middlesbrough, High Peak (Derbyshire), and the London borough of Camden) aimed at over 50,000 parents. The trial will test how best a commercial market in parenting classes for all parents can be established. The aim is to provide early support for parents and families before problems escalate. Better information early on reduces the likelihood of families requiring more expensive support from public services later on.
	On 15 December 2011, the Prime Minister announced further details of his commitment to turn around the lives of 120,000 troubled families by the end of this Parliament. £448 million has been brought together for this programme of work, which is led by Louise Casey in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Departments contributing funding are Education, Health, Work and Pensions, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. The troubled families team in DCLG is also working with the LGA, councils, front-line workers and families themselves to develop the delivery of this work. The programme will have specific objectives including those of reducing crime and antisocial behaviour, getting adults on the path to work and children back into school. If successful, this will mean significant savings to both central and local government, as by reducing the number of troubled families, we will be freeing up money in the longer term.

GCSE

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what proportion of year 11 students in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (b) East Yorkshire and (c) Yorkshire and Humber sat a modern foreign language GCSE exam in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available;
	(2)  what proportion of Year 11 students in (a) Haltemprice and Howden constituency, (b) East Yorkshire and (c) Yorkshire and Humber sat history GCSE exams in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 20 February 2012
	The information requested can be found in the following table for 2007/08 to 2009/11 for modern foreign language GCSEs and 2004/05 to 2009/11 for history GCSEs. Data for earlier years can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Constituency level data for 2010/11 are not yet available.
	
		
			 Percentages of pupils (1, 2)  at the end of key stage 4 who sat modern foreign language (3)  and history GCSEs (4,5)  in Haltemprice and Howden constituency (6) , East riding and Yorkshire local authority (7) , Yorkshire and the Humber region (8)  and England (9) —Years: 2004/05-2009/10—Coverage: England 
			 Percentages of KS4 pupils who sat GCSEs in : 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 
			 Modern Foreign Language (3)        
			 Haltemprice and Howden n/a n/a n/a 43.1 43.0 41.6 n/a 
			 East Riding and Yorkshire n/a n/a n/a 43.9 44.6 43.9 38.4 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber n/a n/a n/a 36.6 37.0 35.3 32.6 
			 England n/a n/a n/a 41.5 41.3 40.4 38.5 
			         
			 History        
			 Haltemprice and Howden 36.7 37.0 31,8 29.6 34.4 31.9 n/a 
			 East Riding and Yorkshire 36.1 38.1 37.3 36.2 36.2 38.3 37.3 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 29.6 29.8 28.4 27.8 28.1 27.9 28.3 
			 England 30.9 31.0 30.0 30.2 30.2 30.2 30.9 
			 n/a = not available. (1) Figures do not include pupils recently arrived from overseas. (2) Figures include all maintained schools (including CTCs and academies). (3) Includes all languages which are counted as being a modern foreign language. Figures for Modern Foreign Languages are not available for the years 2004/05 to 2006/07. (4) Full GCSEs only have been included (Full GCSEs, double awards, accredited international certificates and their predecessor iGCSEs). Figures from 2005-09 exclude iGCSEs, 2010 and 2011 figures include accredited iGCSEs. (5) Including attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years. (6) Parliamentary constituency figures are based on the postcode of the school. (7) Local authority figures are based on the local authority maintaining the school. (8) Regional figures are based on the region of the Local Authority maintaining the school. (9) England figures are the sum of all local authority figures. Source: National Pupil Database

Grammar Schools: Academies

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which grammar schools have (a) applied for and (b) converted to academy status since 2005.

Nick Gibb: Since 2005, 131 grammar schools have registered an interest and applied to convert to academy status. As of February 2012, 119 grammar schools have become academies.

Human Trafficking: Curriculum

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many schools teach pupils about human trafficking.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 27 February  2012 
	Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education provides opportunities for schools to teach about human trafficking. In secondary schools pupils are taught ways of recognising and reducing risk, minimising harm and getting help in emergency and risky situations. PSHE education is not compulsory and the Department does not collect information about the topics taught in each school.

Primary Education: Admissions

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much he plans to spend on creating additional primary school places in this Parliament.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 27 February 2012
	For the current spending period the Government intend to make available over £4 billion to local authorities to support the provision of pupil places. It is for local authorities to decide how best to allocate that funding to meet local needs.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to raise the educational aspirations of school children from lower income families.

Nick Gibb: Narrowing attainment gaps between pupils from low-income families and their peers is a priority for the coalition Government. We have introduced the pupil premium, which guarantees additional funding for schools with disadvantaged children, and ensures that the poorest children, wherever they live, are able to receive the right support to enable them to achieve the standards of which they are capable. Total funding is £625 million in 2011-12, £1.25 billion in 2012-13, and will rise to £2.5 billion by 2014-15.
	Additional funding is only one aspect of our approach to raising standards and aspirations for pupils from low-income families. For the first time this year the School Performance Tables include information about how effective schools are at narrowing the attainment gap and achieving high standards for their disadvantaged pupils. Other reforms, including improving the quality of teaching in our schools, introducing a more rigorous emphasis on phonics in the early years of primary education and reviewing the national curriculum and assessment arrangements, will all have an impact on the attainment and aspirations of children from lower income families.

School Capital Programme

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether meeting the BRE Environmental Assessment Method standard is one of the criteria for expenditure on school infrastructure under the School Capital Programme.

Nick Gibb: We are considering the outstanding recommendations in the Sebastian James review of education capital, including the recommendation on the future of BREEAM in school building programmes. We will be responding very soon with next steps.

Schools

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department has taken to update and consolidate its guidance on out-of-hours use of school facilities.

Nick Gibb: In the Schools White Paper “The Importance of Teaching” the Government made a commitment to reducing the volume of DFE guidance to schools. Since then we have carried out a thorough review of all DFE publications and over 20,000 pages of unnecessary guidance has been removed. The review identified over 1,000 pages of guidance on the Department for Education and Training and Development Agency for Schools websites that related to the provision of extended services in schools; this has been reduced to five pages. Most of the guidance that has been removed may still be accessed in the archive section of the DFE publications website. Additional guidance focused on the responsibilities of governing bodies is available in chapter 22 of The Governors' Guide to the Law which can be accessed on the Department for Education website:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/governance/guidetothelaw/b0065507/gttl

Schools: Admissions

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which secondary schools admit pupils on the basis of partial selection by ability criteria in each local authority; and what proportion of pupils at each school were admitted in this way in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Schools: Finance

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress he has made in amending the funding formula for schools to ensure that the difference between regions is narrowed; and what progress he has made in ensuring that Shropshire receives an increased level of funding.

Nick Gibb: We published the consultation document: “A consultation on school funding: Proposals for a fairer system” in July 2011. The consultation closed in October and we published details of the responses in December. We are engaged in careful consideration of how to proceed towards a fairer system of school funding. We expect to make further announcements in the spring.

Schools: Finance

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much was received per pupil by local authorities through the Dedicated Schools Grant in each of the last three years.

Nick Gibb: The following table shows the Guaranteed Unit of Funding (GUF) allocated to each authority through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) from 2009-10 to 2011-12. The GUFs for 2011-12 include the amount per pupil allocated to local authorities for the specific grants that were mainstreamed into the DSG in 2011-12. These specific grants were allocated in addition to the DSG in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Excluding the specific grant funding, the GUFs for 2011-12 would be the same as for 2010-11.
	
		
			 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Guaranteed Units of Funding (GUF) 2009-10 to 2011-12 
			 £ 
			 Local authority 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 (1) 
			 Barking and Dagenham 4,725 4,917 5,766 
			 Barnet 4,723 4,917 5,642 
			 Barnsley 3,987 4,154 4,878 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 4,033 4,204 4,788 
			 Bedford Borough 3,998 4,198 4,909 
			 Bexley 4,301 4,482 5,120 
			 Birmingham 4,605 4,790 5,689 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 4,405 4,583 5,416 
			 Blackpool 4,125 4,296 4,984 
			 Bolton 4,125 4,301 4,999 
			 Bournemouth 3,964 4,130 4,659 
			 Bracknell Forest 4,177 4,367 4,861 
			 Bradford 4,275 4,470 5,293 
			 Brent 5,102 5,342 6,236 
			 Brighton and Hove 4,249 4,424 5,017 
			 Bristol, City of 4,520 4,702 5,469 
			 Bromley 4,123 4,311 4,944 
			 Buckinghamshire 4,042 4,216 4,814 
			 Bury 4,068 4,238 4,822 
			 Calderdale 4,053 4,222 4,917 
			 Cambridgeshire 3,926 4,093 4,644 
			 Camden 6,373 6,618 7,649 
			 Central Bedfordshire 3,938 4,094 4,658 
			 Cheshire East 3,943 4,110 4,695 
			 Cheshire West and Chester 4,104 4,275 4,896 
			 City of London 7,603 7,871 9,373 
			 Cornwall 3,879 4,043 4,664 
			 Coventry 4,258 4,433 5,232 
			 Croydon 4,432 4,627 5,345 
		
	
	
		
			 Cumbria 3,970 4,137 4,828 
			 Darlington 4,086 4,255 4,897 
			 Derby 4,120 4,291 5,049 
			 Derbyshire 3,964 4,130 4,766 
			 Devon 3,843 4,005 4,603 
			 Doncaster 4,083 4,252 4,982 
			 Dorset 3,938 4,104 4,683 
			 Dudley 4,092 4,263 4,895 
			 Durham 4,125 4,296 5,068 
			 Ealing 5,007 5,213 6,100 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 3,851 4,015 4,613 
			 East Sussex 4,141 4,313 4,913 
			 Enfield 4,596 4,785 5,569 
			 Essex 4,067 4,238 4,816 
			 Gateshead 4,129 4,300 5,123 
			 Gloucestershire 3,881 4,046 4,661 
			 Greenwich 5,576 5,827 6,801 
			 Hackney 6,409 6,682 7,811 
			 Halton 4,376 4,555 5,355 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 5,831 6,059 7,040 
			 Hampshire 3,964 4,132 4,648 
			 Haringey 5,161 5,364 6,307 
			 Harrow 4,669 4,862 5,536 
			 Hartlepool 4,173 4,345 5,192 
			 Havering 4,287 4,468 5,086 
			 Herefordshire 3,830 4,002 4,724 
			 Hertfordshire 4,039 4,212 4,787 
			 Hillingdon 4,519 4,709 5,420 
			 Hounslow 4,822 5,024 5,844 
			 Isle of Wight 4,198 4,373 5,001 
			 Islington 6,043 6,310 7,319 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 5,956 6,186 7,036 
			 Kent 4,081 4,251 4,885 
			 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 4,317 4,493 5,294 
			 Kingston upon Thames 4,410 4,596 5,184 
			 Kirklees 4,093 4,266 4,990 
			 Knowsley 4,414 4,621 5,447 
			 Lambeth 6,075 6,337 7,398 
			 Lancashire 4,069 4,238 4,902 
			 Leeds 4,068 4,237 4,946 
			 Leicester 4,310 4,497 5,290 
			 Leicestershire 3,728 3,888 4,429 
			 Lewisham 5,751 5,981 6,952 
			 Lincolnshire 3,933 4,099 4,798 
			 Liverpool 4,484 4,675 5,553 
			 Luton 4,402 4,583 5,315 
			 Manchester 4,731 4,919 5,876 
			 Medway 4,179 4,351 4,953 
			 Merton 4,612 4,801 5,425 
			 Middlesbrough 4,330 4,506 5,352 
			 Milton Keynes 4,231 4,413 5,074 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 4,256 4,443 5,288 
			 Newham 5,259 5,478 6,449 
			 Norfolk 3,945 4,111 4,786 
			 North East Lincolnshire 4,281 4,455 5,102 
			 North Lincolnshire 3,961 4,127 4,818 
			 North Somerset 3,895 4,061 4,677 
			 North Tyneside 3,974 4,140 4,906 
			 North Yorkshire 3,993 4,160 4,787 
			 Northamptonshire 3,923 4,088 4,699 
		
	
	
		
			 Northumberland 3,850 4,016 4,744 
			 Nottingham 4,658 4,843 5,713 
			 Nottinghamshire 3,981 4,148 4,747 
			 Oldham 4,271 4,453 5,229 
			 Oxfordshire 4,011 4,182 4,758 
			 Peterborough 4,246 4,422 5,169 
			 Plymouth 4,030 4,198 4,891 
			 Poole 3,860 4,024 4,579 
			 Portsmouth 4,207 4,381 5,042 
			 Reading 4,428 4,627 5,287 
			 Redbridge 4,380 4,575 5,248 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 4,133 4,305 5,148 
			 Richmond upon Thames 4,467 4,654 5,162 
			 Rochdale 4,321 4,500 5,255 
			 Rotherham 4,190 4,363 5,141 
			 Rutland 4,039 4,208 4,749 
			 Salford 4,462 4,642 5,444 
			 Sandwell 4,372 4,557 5,315 
			 Sefton 4,058 4,227 4,932 
			 Sheffield 4,096 4,272 5,001 
			 Shropshire 3,850 4,013 4,612 
			 Slough 4,582 4,792 5,540 
			 Solihull 3,887 4,052 4,652 
			 Somerset 3,889 4,052 4,668 
			 South Gloucestershire 3,781 3,944 4,487 
			 South Tyneside 4,241 4,417 5,303 
			 Southampton 4,265 4,441 5,123 
			 Southend-on-Sea 4,171 4,344 5,034 
			 Southwark 5,961 6,200 7,244 
			 St Helens 4,120 4,290 5,014 
			 Staffordshire 3,913 4,078 4,653 
			 Stockport 4,043 4,211 4,791 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 4,102 4,272 4,988 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 4,215 4,388 5,200 
			 Suffolk 3,900 4,065 4,676 
			 Sunderland 4,137 4,311 5,025 
			 Surrey 4,129 4,313 4,804 
			 Sutton 4,409 4,596 5,200 
			 Swindon 3,913 4,079 4,696 
			 Tameside 4,126 4,298 4,942 
			 Telford and Wrekin 4,052 4,219 4,855 
			 Thurrock 4,291 4,470 5,112 
			 Torbay 4,064 4,233 4,842 
			 Tower Hamlets 6,523 6,792 8,052 
			 Trafford 3,992 4,160 4,761 
			 Wakefield 4,022 4,190 4,912 
			 Walsall 4,183 4,371 5,131 
			 Waltham Forest 4,747 4,940 5,842 
			 Wandsworth 5,376 5,639 6,565 
			 Warrington 3,958 4,125 4,668 
			 Warwickshire 3,927 4,093 4,663 
			 West Berkshire 4,137 4,321 4,891 
			 West Sussex 4,018 4,186 4,705 
			 Westminster 5,650 5,893 6,897 
			 Wigan 4,091 4,262 4,882 
			 Wiltshire 3,849 4,013 4,593 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 4,193 4,378 4,967 
			 Wirral 4,089 4,269 5,028 
			 Wokingham 4,005 4,198 4,711 
			 Wolverhampton 4,309 4,502 5,348 
		
	
	
		
			 Worcestershire 3,865 4,028 4,601 
			 York 3,939 4,103 4,657 
			 England 4,218 4,398 5,083 
			 (1) Figures include the per pupil amount for specific grants that were mainstreamed into the DSG in 2011-12. The GUFs for 2011-12 would be the same as for 2010-11, if these funding relating to these grants is excluded.

Schools: Finance

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what comparative assessment he has made of the level of Dedicated Schools Grant received by Warwickshire and other local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: For 2011-12, the average per pupil Guaranteed Unit of Funding (GUF) for the Dedicated Schools Grant in England is £5,082.54. The GUF for Warwickshire is £4,662.81 per pupil. The Government have published the levels of Dedicated Schools Grant for all local authorities on the Department for Education's website at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/financialmanagement/schoolsrevenuefunding/settlement2012pupilpremium

Schools: Sanitation

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment has been made of the effects of the standard of school toilet and washing facilities on children's levels of health and education.

Nick Gibb: The Department has not made such an assessment, but it does set standards for toilet and washing facilities, which form part of the school premises regulations. Proposals for revising these regulations have recently been consulted upon. The proposals stress that suitable toilet and washing facilities must be provided for the sole use of pupils, having regard to their ages, number and sex and any special requirements that they may have.
	In both the existing and proposed regulations there are wider requirements for pupils' welfare. These include a specific standard for health, safety and welfare. In the proposed regulations the requirement is that:
	“school premises and the accommodation and facilities provided therein must be maintained to a standard such that, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of the pupils is ensured”.
	We believe that this provides a sufficient safeguard in this area.

Schools: Sanitation

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans the Department has to improve the standard of school toilets and washing facilities.

Nick Gibb: The Department recently consulted on revised regulations for school premises, which include standards for toilet and washing facilities. These stress that suitable toilet and washing facilities must be provided for the sole use of pupils, having regard to their ages, number and sex and any special requirements they may have.
	In total, 175 responses were received to the consultation, which concluded on the 26 January 2012, and these are currently being analysed by officials. When the consultation report is published on the Department's website, it will include details of how each of the proposals was viewed by respondents. These views will be taken into account, including those on toilet and washing facilities, before the standards are finalised.

INDEPENDENT PARLIAMENTARY STANDARDS AUTHORITY COMMITTEE

Departmental Data Protection

David Davis: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, how many cases of (a) data loss and (b) breaches of confidentiality occurred in the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority in 2011.

Charles Walker: holding answer 23 February 2012
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). I have asked IPSA to reply.
	Letter from Andrew McDonald, dated 24 February 201 2 
	As Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking about cases of data loss and breaches of confidentiality at IPSA in 2011.
	There were two cases of data loss:
	An IPSA BlackBerry was stolen during a household burglary. The BlackBerry was security protected and encrypted.
	A personal computer owned by an IPSA employee was stolen during a household burglary. The computer did not contain sensitive personal data.
	There have been no breaches of confidentiality.
	There are two incidents recorded in IPSA's information security log where an email message was sent to the wrong MP. Neither message contained sensitive personal data.

Departmental Meetings

Bob Russell: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, what the dates were of meetings between representatives of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and Government Ministers since 1 September 2011; which Ministers were in attendance on each occasion; whether matters relating to the pensions of hon. Members were discussed at each meeting; what the outcome was of each meeting; what other matters were discussed; and if he will publish the minutes taken of each meeting

Charles Walker: holding answer 23 February 2012
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). I have asked IPSA to reply.
	Letter from Andrew McDonald, dated 28 February 2012
	As Chief Executive of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking about meetings between representatives of IPSA and Government Ministers.
	Since 1 September 2011 the following meetings between IPSA and Government Ministers took place.
	On 21 October 2011 the Chief Executive met the Leader of the House.
	On 26 October 2011 the Chief Executive met the Deputy Leader of the House.
	On 10 November 2011 the Chief Executive met the Leader of the House.
	On 10 November 2011 the Chief Executive met the Deputy Chief Whip.
	On 24 November 2011 the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Cabinet Office visited IPSA and met several members of staff.
	On 8 December 2011 the Chief Executive met the Leader of the House.
	On 15 December 2011 the Chief Executive met the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Cabinet Office.
	On 16 January 2012, the Chair and the Chief Executive met the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Leader of the House and the Minister for the Cabinet Office.
	On 24 January 2012, the Chief Executive met the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
	These meetings covered a variety of issues relating to IPSA's statutory responsibilities, including the commencement and implementation of Schedule 6 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, which transferred the power to determine MPs' pensions to IPSA.
	We do not intend to provide further details of these meetings as to do so may inhibit free and frank discussions in the future.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent progress he has made in increasing the numbers of apprenticeships in UK businesses.

John Hayes: We have seen increases in the numbers of people starting and completing apprenticeships at all levels. Final data for the 2010/11 academic year show a total 457,200 apprenticeship starts, an increase of 63.5% over 2009/10. Apprenticeship achievements in 2010/11 increased by almost 17% to 200,300.

Apprentices: Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many electrical or electro-technical apprenticeships were offered in the Hull region in (a) 2006, (b) 2007, (c) 2008, (d) 2009, (e) 2010 and (f) 2011;
	(2)  how many live apprenticeships there were in Hull as of February 2012; and in what fields;
	(3)  how many apprenticeships have been (a) offered and (b) filled in Hull since June 2010;
	(4)  how many apprenticeships were offered in the Hull region in each year since 2005.

John Hayes: Table 1 shows the number of Apprenticeship programme starts in Kingston upon Hull local education authority by framework, between 2005/06 and 2010/11, the latest full year for which final data are available. Provisional data for the first quarter of 2011/12 (August to October) show that there were 910 Apprenticeship programme starts in Kingston upon Hull.
	
		
			 Table 1: Apprenticeship programme starts in Kingston upon Hull by framework, 2005/06 to 2010/11 
			 Framework 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 
			 Electrical and Electronic Servicing (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Electricity Industry (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 Electrotechnical 30 40 40 20 30 20 
			 All Apprenticeships 1,400 1,310 1,590 1,790 1,970 3,170 
			 (1) Base value of less than five. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest ten. Source: Individualised Learner Record 
		
	
	Information on the number of Apprenticeship starts by framework is published in a supplementary table to a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 31 January 2012:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/statisticalfirstrelease/sfr_current
	Table 2 shows the number of National Apprenticeship Service Apprenticeship Vacancies (online system) by sector subject area in Kingston upon Hull on 23 February 2012. Please note that this information is based on the location of the Apprenticeship vacancy and is valid only for the date presented.
	
		
			 Table 2: Apprenticeship vacancies in Kingston upon Hull by sector subject area, as of the 23 February 2012 
			 Sector subject area Live vacancies 
			 Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care (1)— 
			 Arts, Media and Publishing (1)— 
			 Business, Administration and Law 10 
			 Construction, Planning and the Built Environment (1)— 
			 Education and Training (1)— 
			 Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies (1)— 
			 Health, Public Services and Care (1)— 
			 Information and Communication Technology (1)— 
			 Leisure, Travel and Tourism (1)— 
			 Retail and Commercial Enterprise (1)— 
			 Total 20 
			 (1) Base value of less than five. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest ten. Source: National Apprenticeship Service/Apprenticeship Vacancy data 
		
	
	A vacancy can be advertised on both the Apprenticeship Vacancies system and also via an employer's own website. Therefore, these figures may not provide a comprehensive picture of all Apprenticeship vacancies within an area.
	Online reports from Apprenticeship Vacancies are updated on a monthly basis and published by the Data Service on the fourth day of each calendar month at the following link:
	http://mireportslibrary.thedataservice.org.uk/apprenticeships/apprenticeship_vacancy_reports/

Arms Trade: Bahrain

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what permits for arms exports to Bahrain have been approved by Ministers in his Department since February 2011.

Mark Prisk: Information on arms exports is published in the Annual and Quarterly Reports on Strategic Export Controls. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. They are available to view at:
	https://www.exportcontroldb.bis.gov.uk/eng/fox
	Currently this includes information up to 30 September 2011. Information covering 1 October to 31 December 2011 will be published in April 2012 and information covering 1 January 2012 to 31 March 2012 will be published in July 2012.
	As an export licence is required to export arms and other military equipment from the United Kingdom, details about what items were licensed for export to Bahrain will be contained within these reports. However, the fact that a licence has been issued does not mean that an export has necessarily taken place. All export licence applications are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria taking account of all prevailing circumstances at the time of application. A licence will not be issued where to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria or other relevant announced commitments. In particular Criterion Two concerns the:
	‘respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination’
	and states that the Government will not issue an export licence if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression. If the situation in the country changes or new information comes to light that causes us to have concerns, we can and do revoke export licences where we consider that the proposed export would, in light of the changing situation, contravene the Criteria.

Audio Equipment: India

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  whether his Department has provided assistance to UK Trade and Investment to ensure that wireless microphone equipment pre-tuned to 854-862 MHz that is sold by UK companies to India conforms to Indian laws and regulations;
	(2)  what advice his Department received on the legal operating bands for wireless microphone equipment in India prior to UK Trade and Investment's involvement with UK companies distributing equipment in that country;
	(3)  what discussions his Department has had with UK microphone distributing companies on the effects of UK Trade and Investment's involvement in facilitating the sale of wireless microphones in India.

Mark Prisk: Her Majesty's Government (HMG) provides assistance and support to UK-based companies through UK Trade and Investment's dedicated trade and investment team based in India.
	In the course of undertaking research for a UK-based company involved in selling wireless microphones in India, UKTI India received advice from local contacts in India on the legality of importing and selling certain types of wireless microphones to distributors in India, and passed this on to the company. Prior to this, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) in India had received no advice on importing of wireless microphones.

Business: Audit

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many companies registered in (a) Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency, (b) the London Borough of Bexley and (c) London received a penalty notice for late filing of accounts in each of the last three years; and how many such penalties were overturned on appeal.

Norman Lamb: Companies House does not hold any information in regional or constituency format. The information could be developed but only at a disproportionate cost; it could only be retrieved as a bespoke product at a cost of at least several thousand pounds.

Copyright: Education

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to paragraphs five and six of the copyright consultation, what research his Department has undertaken to determine the number of audio-visual works and works embedded in them that would need to be licensed under his proposals on the use of works for education.

Norman Lamb: holding answer 20 February 2012
	I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him on 27 February 2012, Official Report, column 70-71W.

Copyright: EU Action

Tristram Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2012, Official Report, columns 244-5W, on copyright, what advice he sought prior to discussions with the European Commission on an EU-wide copyright exception for data mining; and what economic research was conducted prior to those discussions.

Norman Lamb: The Government receive a wide range of views from many sources in relation to copyright, and have regular discussions with the European Commission on a wide range of copyright and other intellectual property policy issues, including the interaction of new technologies with the copyright framework. The Government have drawn the attention of the European Commission to the recommendations of the Hargreaves report. It would be a matter for the Commission to decide whether to pursue any proposal for a European-wide exception for commercial data mining, and to undertake any public consultation on it.

Counterfeit Manufacturing: Trade Agreements

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what communications he has received from the US Administration on the UK's ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Since conclusion of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations in December 2010, the UK Intellectual Property Office has received no official communication from the US Administration on the UK's ratification of the agreement.

Counterfeit Manufacturing: Trade Agreements

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what consultations his Department held before the UK signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.

Norman Lamb: The Intellectual Property Office held a number of stakeholder meetings during the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations. A range of stakeholders including business, internet service providers and consumer interest and open rights groups participated. The last stakeholder consultation was held in September 2010 prior to the final round of negotiations. Interested parties were also invited to submit comments via the Intellectual Property Office ACTA website.

Debts: Advisory Services

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what arrangements are in place to ensure that consumers who opt to choose a private debt management company are directed towards a reputable firm; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: All who provide debt management services are required to be licensed under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has a duty to ensure that applicants for licences are fit to engage in the activities for which they wish to be licensed, and to monitor the continuing fitness of those to whom licences have been granted.
	Where the OFT has evidence of unfair practices, action can be taken to refuse or revoke or place conditions on the consumer credit licence of those concerned.
	The Debt Managers Standards Association (DEMSA) has approval for its code of practice under the OFT Consumer Codes Approval Scheme (CCAS). The DEMSA Code promotes standards above and beyond what the law requires. Consumers wanting to use a DEMSA member can look for the OFT code approved logo on company advertising and literature.

Debts: Advisory Services

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to prevent rogue debt management firms which have had their consumer credit licences revoked from continuing to trade whilst on appeal.

Norman Lamb: The Government share the concern, expressed by some stakeholders during the Consumer Credit and Personal Insolvency Review, that a small number of rogue firms may be continuing to engage in practices which cause consumer detriment while appealing a decision to revoke their consumer credit licences. Government are continuing to consider this issue in the context of the wider work to reform the consumer credit regime as a whole including the transfer of regulation to the new Financial Conduct Authority. In doing so, we recognise the importance of ensuring that consumers are well-protected while at the same time ensuring that businesses have appropriate recourse to appeal.

Debts: Advisory Services

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits of making all providers of debt management and advice services subject to mandatory independent audits for the purposes of ensuring an appropriate duty of care to all consumers.

Norman Lamb: Firms which provide debt management services are required to be licensed under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The Office of Fair Trading has a duty to ensure that applicants are fit to engage in the activities for which they wish to be licensed and to monitor the continuing fitness of those to whom licences have been granted.
	In addition, this Department gave funding to the Money Advice Service to enable them to carry out research which will lead to a reformed debt advice service that will be delivered from 2013. In their plan for the future, published on 22 February 2012, they identified regular, transparent quality assurance of debt advice as one of seven key areas critical to the provision of debt advice and they will be working with the advice sector to take this forward.

Departmental Senior Civil Servants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many senior civil servants left his Department and its public bodies in each month since May 2010; what their names are; what the rate of turnover of senior civil servants in his Department was during this period; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The numbers of senior civil servants who left the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (excluding agencies) each month since 1 May 2010 were:
	
		
			  2010 2011 2012 
			 January — 3 7 
			 February — 3 — 
			 March — 12 — 
			 April — 2 — 
			 May 1 1 — 
			 June 0 12 — 
			 July 7 1 — 
			 August 2 1 — 
			 September 12 5 — 
			 October 9 2 — 
			 November 3 0 — 
			 December 0 0 — 
			 Total 34 42 7 
		
	
	Reasons for leaving BIS included resignation, retirement, end of contract and transfer to other Government Departments.
	The total number of senior civil servants who left for all reasons was 83. The number in post at the start of the period was 234. The turnover was therefore 35.47%.
	Similar information concerning BIS public bodies is not held centrally and would incur disproportionate costs.

Education: Prisons

Neil Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of (a) literacy teaching and (b) other prisoner education.

John Hayes: This Department is responsible for determining policy on education for prisoners. Ofsted inspects prison education to the same standards and with the same expectations as it applies elsewhere, and it is that organisation's assessments upon which we rely. I ordered a review of prison education on becoming the Minister responsible because of my determination to drive up standards. The Chief Inspector's annual report for 2011 confirmed that this was necessary as, though it indicated that the overall effectiveness of provision in 22 out of 24 establishments inspected was judged to be satisfactory or better, it noted that the high proportion of provision that is no better than satisfactory in prisons and young offender institutions is a concern, with leadership and management and the extent to which provision meets the needs and interests of learners seen as key factors limiting improvement. The annual report also noted insufficient literacy courses.
	Which is why the new strategy for offender learning, ‘Making Prisons Work: Skills for Rehabilitation’, that I launched last year was based on a significant number of responses to our call for evidence and addresses the shortcomings Ofsted identifies. We are procuring new prison education providers, with prison Governors playing a critical role in both the procurement process and the ongoing management of contracts. The new contracts are based on clusters of prisons between which prisoners move, enabling continuity in learning and a much improved focus on the needs of employers in the areas to which those clusters of prisons release. A redistribution of offender learning resource will focus delivery on the beginning and the end of sentences in order to ensure we meet employer need, a key test of effectiveness.

Education: Prisons

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many organisations tendered for the London prisons education contract awarded to A4e; what criteria his Department used in making its choice of provider; and for what reason A4e was awarded the contract.

John Hayes: All decisions relating to the funding of individual training providers, including the awarding of contracts, are made by the Skills Funding Agency, not by Ministers or the Department. I have asked the chief executive of Skills Funding to write to you in response to the question.
	It is vital that Ministers, Parliament, the Skills Funding Agency, learners, teaching staff and the taxpayer each have confidence in the way public funds are being spent. The chief executive of Skills Funding has been asked to provide assurance to the Department that he has no concerns with the current contracting arrangements with A4e before issuing them with these contracts or with any future contracts.

Education: Prisons

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the London prisons education contract awarded to A4e will be reviewed in the light of recent police investigations into that company.

John Hayes: All decisions relating to the funding of individual training providers, including the awarding of contracts, are made by the Skills Funding Agency, not by Ministers or the Department. I have asked the chief executive of Skills Funding to write to you in response to the question.
	It is vital that Ministers, Parliament, the Skills Funding Agency, learners, teaching staff and the taxpayer each have confidence in the way public funds are being spent. The chief executive of Skills Funding has been asked to provide assurance to the Department that he has no concerns with the current contracting arrangements with A4e before issuing them with these contracts or with any future contracts.

Electronic Equipment: Waste Disposal

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his policy is on the European Commission's proposed waste electrical and electronic equipment directive.

Mark Prisk: A revised waste electrical and electronic equipment directive (WEEE) was agreed by the European Parliament on 19 January 2012 and will be adopted by the Council very shortly. The new directive raises the environmental objectives of the original, while minimising the administrative burdens placed on business. The Government will consult on necessary amendments to the current UK WEEE regulations and propose other improvements that should be made to the UK WEEE system that are good for business and seek to improve recycling rates.

Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many times Ministers in his Department have met officials from the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate since May 2010; and when the next such meeting is planned. [R]

Norman Lamb: The then Minister for Employment Relations, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), met with officials from the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate on 5 July 2010. Ministers receive regular updates on the work of this inspectorate and I will be meeting with the inspectors in due course.

EU Social Chapter

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate has been made of the cost to UK businesses of the EU Social Chapter in each year since its introduction.

Norman Lamb: There is no longer a distinct and separate “European Social Chapter” the EU's provisions for social and related matters are fully integrated into the treaties. Specific measures agreed and implemented under these provisions are subject to impact assessments at the time of transposition but once transposed are then fully integrated into domestic law.

Exports: Government Assistance

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what support is available for companies seeking to export to (a) Egypt, (b) the Philippines, (c) Vietnam and (d) all other international markets; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: The Government have set out a very clear ambition for the UK's trade and investment agenda. Exporting forms a core work strand of the Government's Plan for Growth.
	This Department is supporting UK exports to all markets, including Egypt, the Philippines and Vietnam, through UK Trade and Investment (UKTI). Egypt and Vietnam are among UKTI’s top 20 priority emerging and high-growth markets. UKTI's strategy, ‘Britain Open for Business’, launched in May 2011, sets out plans to provide practical support to exporters over the next five years. This can be found on UKTI's website:
	www.ukti.gov.uk

Higher Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what consideration he has given to making no change to higher education policies in 2013-14.

David Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has consulted on proposals for reform of the higher education sector, as set out in the higher education White Paper. We will respond to this consultation in due course.

Industrial Action

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what his policy is on the use of (a) recruitment companies, (b) subsidiaries and (c) in-house recruitment processes to provide labour during periods of industrial action; [R]
	(2)  what arrangements are in place to prevent vulnerable agency workers from being exploited when recruitment agencies are contracted to provide labour to break periods of industrial action; [R]
	(3)  whether recruitment agencies are required to inform agency workers from (a) Bulgaria, (b) Romania, (c) other EU countries and (d) non-EU countries of the industrial context when such companies are recruiting for staff to work on contracts to break periods of industrial action. [R]

Norman Lamb: Regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 prohibits an employment business from knowingly supplying work-seekers to perform the duties of staff taking official industrial action or their replacements, doing so is a criminal offence. The nationality of the agency workers would make no difference to the offence. Employment businesses are required to provide information about the role a work-seeker takes on with the hirer.

Nature Improvement Areas

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers and (c) officials in his Department have had with (i) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (ii) others on the development and implementation of Nature Improvement Areas.

Norman Lamb: BIS and DEFRA contact on Nature Improvement Areas has been exclusively in the course of normal Government clearances for the Natural Environment White Paper, which announced the Nature Improvement Area initiative, and the England Biodiversity Strategy.

Paper: Industry

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to assist the UK paper and board industry; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: The paper and board industry has access to the full range of Government support available which includes Business Link, the Manufacturing Advisory Service, and the Technology Strategy Board. The Deputy Prime Minister announced a third round of the Regional Growth Fund at the manufacturing summit on 23 February. Businesses, including those active in the paper and board industry, have until 13 June to apply and further information on the application process can be found at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/economic-development/regional-growth-fund
	As part of the autumn statement, we announced a package that will reduce the impact of energy and climate change policies on the cost of electricity for those energy intensive industries, such as paper and board, whose international competitiveness is most affected by these policies. This package of measures will be worth around £250 million to energy intensive industries to reduce their energy bills, subject to state aid approval.
	In addition, there will be investment available for commercial and industrial energy efficiency projects through the Green Investment Bank, and on 6 December we launched a £125 million challenge fund to boost UK advanced manufacturing supply chains. Both of these schemes will be open to bids from the paper and board industry.

Rentokil: Temporary Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will investigate whether Rentokil Initial's use of recruitment agencies to provide labour for the Eurostar contract during industrial action on 16 and 17 February and 1 and 2 March 2012 is compliant with Regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003; and if he will make a statement. [R]

Norman Lamb: The Government may investigate further if an official complaint is made to the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.

Rentokil: Temporary Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has had discussions with representatives from Rentokil Initial on that company's use of recruitment companies to provide labour for the Eurostar contract during industrial action on 16 and 17 February and 1 and 2 March 2012. [R]

Norman Lamb: All official meetings are published on the departmental website.
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/transparency

Rentokil: Temporary Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has had discussions with officials from the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate on the use by Rentokil Initial of recruitment agencies to provide labour for the Eurostar contract during industrial action on 16 and 17 February and 1 and 2 March 2012. [R]

Norman Lamb: There have been no discussions of this nature.

Science: Females

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to support women in science and engineering.

David Willetts: I have asked the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society to develop a diversity programme for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) community. This will build on the academies’ existing and excellent relationships with a diverse mix of STEM institutions, and place a much greater emphasis on challenging the leaderships at all levels to take on responsibility for delivering the change needed to promote equality. This programme aims to tackle the barriers faced by all minority groups as well as those who are economically disadvantaged.
	Many of the Department's other STEM partners are contributing directly to the equality and diversity agenda. A broad mix of STEM activities and wider societal programmes are funded from the Science and Research budget and these have a major impact on diversity in the STEM workforce.
	Our work on the STEM pipeline has strands which seek to encourage more girls to study science at school and university, through the STEM ambassadors programme. STEMNET actively seeks to ensure that the profile of the ambassadors they recruit adequately represent the local community in which the ambassadors volunteer. At present, around 40% of the 25,000 ambassadors are women.
	Within the Royal Society fellowship schemes, the Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships is specifically aimed at researchers who require a flexible working pattern and women are particularly encouraged to apply.
	Research Councils UK fellowships and grants are distributed among gender and ethnic groups with no apparent strong bias to any one group. Through the Concordat to support the career development of researchers and the Vitae programme, RCUK will lead cultural change in the higher education sector. Their ambition is to ensure that the best researchers from a diverse population are attracted to research careers, enhance the quality of research training and employability of early career researchers and enhance the impact of UK researchers by promoting improved career development and management of research staff by research organisations.

Science: Higher Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to encourage more students to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects in higher education.

David Willetts: Science and technical skills play a vital role in ensuring the economic and intellectual prosperity of the UK. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) works closely with the Department for Education to ensure Government policies to attract students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects throughout their educational careers are coherent and consider the needs of both students and future employers.
	BIS funds STEMNET, a UK-wide organisation, whose purpose is to ensure that all young people, regardless of background, are encouraged to understand the excitement and importance of STEM in their lives, and the career opportunities to which these subjects can lead. There are currently over 25,000 STEM ambassadors across the UK.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) run a £350 million support programme for strategic and vulnerable subjects. STEM courses receive the most support for activities to increase demand under this programme.
	HEFCE are also running a national HE STEM programme, led by the university of Birmingham, from August 2009 until July 2012 with a budget of £20 million, to attract students to STEM subjects at HE.

Students: Fees and Charges

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many institutions have set fee levels below £9,000.

David Willetts: Of the 149 institutions that have submitted access agreements to the Office For Fair Access (OFFA), there are 143 with estimated average tuition fees less than £9,000 (96%) after fee waivers.
	The full dataset on fees charged by institutions with access agreements is available on the OFFA website:
	http://www.offa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Download-updated-2012-13-data-tables-as-Excel-spreadsheet.xls

Students: Loans

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to allow student loans to be paid to students wanting to undertake apprenticeships or trade vocational qualifications for initial training courses.

John Hayes: From the 2013/14 academic year, loans will be available for students aged 24 and over taking courses at level 3 and level 4, including advanced or higher apprenticeships.

Supermarkets: Competition

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many meetings he has held with (a) the six largest supermarkets, (b) farmers' representatives and (c) consumer groups on the introduction of a Groceries Code Adjudicator.

Norman Lamb: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has not met any of these groups to discuss the Groceries Code Adjudicator. I am responsible for the Groceries Code Adjudicator and I plan to meet representatives of both retailers and suppliers in the coming months.

Supermarkets: Farmers

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of (a) levels of bankruptcy of British dairy farmers and (b) the market power of the six largest supermarkets.

Norman Lamb: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has not made any assessment of these issues. The Competition Commission's study of the groceries market, which published its final report in April 2008, considered the market positions of both dairy farmers and large supermarkets. Following this review a Groceries Supply Code of Practice was introduced, and the Government now intends to establish a Groceries Code Adjudicator to ensure adherence to the Code.

Temporary Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many agency workers registered as self-employed with limited company status there were in each sector of the economy in each year since 2007; [R]
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of agency workers from (a) Bulgaria, (b) Romania, (c) other EU countries and (d) non-EU countries who are registered as self-employed with limited company status with recruitment agencies in (i) London, (ii) the South East and (iii) England. [R]

Norman Lamb: The Government do not hold this information on agency workers.

Temporary Employment

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what guidance is available to agency workers from (a) Bulgaria, (b) Romania, (c) other EU countries and (d) non-EU countries on the effects on their statutory entitlements of registering as self-employed with limited company status with recruitment agencies; [R]
	(2)  what guidance is available to agency workers from (a) Bulgaria, (b) Romania, (c) other EU countries and (d) non-EU countries when they are recruited to work on contracts to break periods of industrial action. [R]

Norman Lamb: Guidance about seeking work through employment businesses in the United Kingdom is available on the Government's website:
	www.direct.gov.uk

Third Sector

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department has taken to implement the principles of the Best Value Statutory Guidance in respect of (a) giving at least three months' notice to voluntary and community organisations and their service users when reducing or ending funding, (b) engaging with voluntary and community organisations and service users as early as possible before making a decision on the future of the service, any knock-on effects on assets used to provide this service and the wider impact on the local community and (c) making provision for voluntary and community organisations and service users to put forward options on how to reshape the service or project.

Norman Lamb: The Best Value guidance does not legally apply to central Government Departments or their executive agencies.
	However, as the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the right hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), made clear in his foreword to the revised Best Value guidance, central Government Departments support the fair standards set out in the guidance and have reaffirmed their commitment to the national Compact. The issues raised are covered by the Compact. In January the National Audit Office published ‘Central Government's implementation of the national Compact’, a report which provides commentary on the implementation of the national Compact across Government. DCLG participated fully in the National Audit Office's review of the national Compact implementation and will be following up as appropriate the recommendations within the National Audit Office report to ensure that the Department continues to be a strong model of collaborative working between Government and the voluntary sector.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) signed up to the renewed Compact published in December 2010.
	BIS recognises and values the role that the third sector can play across all parts of the further education (FE) and skills system in the successful delivery of learning and skills, particularly in supporting those furthest away from learning and employment. FE and Skills within BIS works widely with the third sector, particularly through a highly consultative dialogue with the Third Sector National Learning Alliance (TSNLA) to ensure that third sector interests are appropriately taken into account in a systematic way. The Skills Funding Agency (a partner organisation of BIS) endeavours to ensure the third sector is represented in the development and implementation of policy and service delivery. In terms of funding, where a third sector provider is a direct contract holder with the agency we can give assurance that the agency meets the Best Value statutory guidance recommendations in relation to notice periods.
	In the consumer focused voluntary sector, BIS sponsors both Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland—the umbrella bodies for the Citizens Advice service across England and Wales, and in Scotland. It provides core grant in aid funding to both charities under schedule 274 of the Enterprise Act. Our funding enables the bodies to provide essential central services to their customers namely the network of Citizens Advice Bureaux (information technology (IT), information, training of staff and volunteers, management services). In return this enables the service to provide central Government with real time data on the issues facing the public on a wide number of social policy issues.

Trade Promotion: Manpower

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK commercial attachés were active overseas in each of the last two years.

Henry Bellingham: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
	The staff employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), working to UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) objectives can be broken down into UK-based staff and locally engaged staff who are employed by the embassy. Some staff in the network work across multiple objectives and record the appropriate percentage of their time to each. The following table gives the FY 2010-11 and the current full-time equivalent number of staff working to UKTI objectives in each of these categories. The figures for 2011-12 may be subject to revision at the end of the financial year when the accounts are completed.
	
		
			  UK diplomats Locally engaged staff Total network 
			 2010-11 195 1,032 1,227 
			 2011-12 169 1,060 1,229

Trade Promotion: Pay

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average pay was of UK commercial attachés in each of the last two years.

Henry Bellingham: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
	The following table shows the grades and pay scales at which UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) has had UK-based officers working as commercial attachés across the world over the last two years. All UKTI officers overseas working to UKTI objectives on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) platform are employed on FCO terms and conditions.
	
		
			 Grade 2011-12 Pay scale 2010-11 Pay scale 
			 A2 No officers £18,525 to £21,696 
			 B3 £21,432 to £27,385 £21,432 to £27,385 
			 C4 £26,102 to £32,509 £26,102 to £32,509 
			 C5 £32,748 to £40,500 £32,748 to £40,500 
			 D6 £43,084 to £55,782 £43,084 to £55,782 
			 D7 £54,340 to £67,861 £54,340 to £67,861 
			 SMS1 £58,200 to £117,750 £58,200 to £117,750 
			 SMS2 £82,900 to £162,500 £82,900 to £162,500 
		
	
	UKTI also employs locally engaged staff contracted to the local embassies in many markets. The salaries for these staff are set at post and dictated by local market conditions.

Trade Promotion: Pay

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the average pay of UK commercial attachés in (a) Egypt, (b) Vietnam and (c) the Philippines was in each of the last five years.

Henry Bellingham: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
	All UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) staff operating abroad do so under Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) terms and conditions. The following table gives the grades of UK Based staff in each of the requested countries and the salary range for those officers as employees of the FCO at 1 January 2010, 1 January 2011 and currently.
	We do not hold staff data for 2008 and 2009. We do not disclose actual salary information for individual officers.
	
		
			 Market Grade Payscale 
			 1 January 2010   
			 Vietnam D7 £51,385 to £66,335 
			 Vietnam C4 £24,644 to £31,778 
			 Vietnam B3 £20,725 to £27,189 
			 Philippines C5 £31,102 to £39,589 
			 Egypt D6 £41,106 to £54,789 
			 Egypt C5 £31,102 to £39,589 
			 Egypt C4 £24,644 to £31,778 
			 1 January 2011:   
			 Vietnam D7 £54,340 to £67,861 
			 Vietnam C4 £26,102 to £32,509 
			 Vietnam B3 £21,432 to £27,385 
			 Philippines C5 £32,748 to £40,500 
			 Egypt D6 £43,084 to £55,782 
			 Egypt C4 £26,102 to £32,509 
			 Current :   
			 Vietnam D7 £54,340 to £67,861 
			 Vietnam C4 £26,102 to £32,509 
			 Philippines C5 £32,748 to £40,500 
			 Egypt D6 £43,084 to £55,782 
			 Egypt C4 £26,102 to £32,509 
		
	
	UKTI also employs locally engaged staff in each of these countries who are contracted to the embassies. The salary for these staff are set at post and dictated by local market conditions.

UK Trade and Investment: Air Travel

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 21 February 2012, what the level of aggregate spending on UK Trade and Investment flights was in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12.

Mark Prisk: holding answer 27 February 2012
	UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) operates in 97 different countries and within the UK.
	UKTI's expenditure on air fares is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Total (£000) 
			 2009-10 2,160 
			 2010-11 1,424 
			 2011-12 (9 months) 1,025 
		
	
	We estimate that the full year spend for 2011-12 will show a 37% reduction over this period.